A Pacific coast vacation

PACIFIC COAST VACATION

LIBRARY

OF THE

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA.

Class

A

PACIFIC COAST
VACATION

BY

MRS. JAMES EDWIN MORRIS

Illustrated from Photographs Taken En Route
by James Edwin Morris

THE

Hbbcy press

PUBLISHERS

114

FIFTH AVENUE
LONDON NEW YORK MONTREAL

OF THE

f UNIVERSITY )

-

GENERAL

Copyright, 1901,

by
THE

Hbbcy press

Dedicated to Alaska's Beautiful Daughter,
Miss EDNA MCFARLAND

Linked in my memory of those sea-girt shores where
snow-crowned mountains tower like castles old; where
wild cataracts hurl their waters down rugged cliffs to the
sea; where sea gulls mingle their cries with the rushing
torrents ; where frost giants stride up and down the
land; where the Aurora flames through the long win-
ter nights, will ever be the name of this gifted daughter
of Alaska.

181693

FOREWORD

IF you ask what motive she who loved these
scenes had in essaying to portray them with pen
and camera, she would reply that like the Duke
of Buckingham, when visiting the scene where
Anna of Austria had whispered that she loved
him, let fall a precious gem that another finding
it, might be happy in that charmed spot where
he himself had been.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

PAGE

Junction of the Mississippi and Black Rivers 9

Falls of Saint Anthony 11

Falls of Minnehaha 13

Old Fort Snelling 15

Roadway, Soldiers' Barracks, Fort Snelling 17

Entering the Cascade Range 35

Lava Beds in Washington 37

Tangle of Wild Fern in a Washington Forest 39

Mount Rainier 41

Street in Tacoma, Washington 45

Parliament House, Victoria 51

Gorge of Homathco 53

Light House, Point Robert 55

Fjords of Alaska 57

Fishing Hamlet of Ketchikan 59

Fort Wrangle, Alaska 63

Chief Shake's House, Fort Wrangle 67

Entering Wrangle Narrows 71

Douglas Island, Looking Toward Juneau 73

Silver Bow Can" on, Juneau. (By permission of F.

Laroche, photographer, Seattle, Washington) 75

Old Russian Court House, Juneau 77

Street in Juneau 79

Greek Church, Juneau 81

Indian Chief's House, Juneau 83

Summit of the Selkirk Range, at Head of Yukon
River. Old Glory Waves Beside the British

Flag 85

List of Illustrations.

PAGE

The Skaguay Enchantress 89

Skaguay, Showing White Pass 91

Muir Glacier (section of) 93

Greek Church, Killisnoo 99

Kitchnatti 101

Sitka — Soldiers' Barracks, Old Russian Warehouse
and Greek Church on the right, Indian Vil-
lage on the left, Russian Blockhouses Beyond,
and Mission Schools in the Distance. (By
permission of F. Laroche, photographer,

Seattle, Washington) 103

Indian Avenue, Sitka 105

Blockhouse on Bank of Indian River, Sitka, Alaska. 107

Rapids, Indian River, Sitka 113

Where Whales and Porpoises Poke Their Noses Up

Through the Brine 119

Steamer Queen Leaving Juneau 133

Alps of America 135

Government Locks on the Columbia River 143

Rapids, Columbia River 145

Farm on the Bank of the Columbia River, Below

the Dalles, Oregon 147

Scene on an Oregon Farm in the Willamette Valley . 151

Roadway in Oregon 153

Climbing the Shasta Range 163

The Highest Trestle in the World, near Muir's Peak,

Shasta Range 165

Mount Shasta. (By permission of F. Laroche,

photographer, Seattle, Washington) 167

Street Scene in Chinatown, San Francisco 177

Museum in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco 181

Early Morning, Yosemite Valley 189

Wawona Valley 191

List of Illustrations.

PAGE

Oldest Log Cabin in the Sequoia Grove, Mariposa
County, California. Old Columbia in the

Foreground 193

Half Dome and Merced River 195

Merced River, Yosemite Valley 197

Yosemite Falls 199

El Capitan 201

Bridal Veil Falls and the Three Brothers (solid rock) 203

Mirror Lake, Sleeping Water 205

Yosemite Falls, Showing Floor of the Valley 207

Sunrise in Yosemite Valley 209

Entering Hell Gate Canon , 233

Liberty Cap and Old Fort Yellowstone 235

Hotel Mammoth, Hot Springs, Yellowstone Park. . 237
Old Faithful Geyser, Yellowstone Park, Just Before

an Eruption 239

Yellowstone Lake 241

Camping on the Shore of Lake Yellowstone 243

Paint Pots on Shore of Yellowstone Lake 245

Grand Canon of the Yellowstone 247

Gibbon River Falls 249

Micky and Annie Rooney 251

i HE

( UNIVERSITY

OF

A Pacific Coast Vacation

CHAPTER I

AUF WIEDERSEHEN

OFF to see the land of icebergs and glaciers ;
the land I have often visited in my imagination.
It seems but yesterday that the first geography
was put into my hands. O, that dear old geog-
raphy, the silent companion of my childhood
days.

The first page to which I opened pictured
an iceberg, with a polar bear walking right up
the perpendicular side, and another bold fellow
sitting on top as serenely as Patience on a mon-
ument.

" What was an iceberg ? What were the
bears doing on the ice and what did they eat?
Was that the sun shining over yonder? Why
didn't it melt the ice and drop the bears into the
sea? No, that was not the sun, it was the

2 A Pacific Coast Vacation

aurora borealis. Aurora? Who was she and
why did she live in that cold, cold country, the
home of Hoder, the gray old god of winter? "

The phenomenon of the aurora was ex-
plained to us, but to our childish imagination
Aurora ever remained a maiden whose wonder-
ful hair of rainbow tints lit up the northern
sky.

We talked of Aurora, we dreamed of
Aurora, and now we are off to see the charming
ice maiden of our childhood fancy.

Off to Alaska. For years we have dreamed
of it; for days and weeks we have breakfasted
on Rocky Mountain flora, lunched on icebergs
and glaciers and dined on totem poles and In-
dian chiefs.

Much of the charm of travel in any country
comes of the glamour with which fable and
legend have enshrouded its historic places.

America is rapidly developing a legendary
era. Travel up and down the shores of the
historic Hudson and note her fabled places.

The "" Headless Hessian " still chases timid
" Ichabods " through " Sleepy Hollow." " Rip
Van Winkle/' the happy-go-lucky fellow, still
stalks the Catskills, gun in hand. The death
light of " Jack Welsh " may be seen on a sum-

Auf Wiedersehen

3

mer's night off the coast of Pond Cove.
" Mother Crew's " evil spirit haunts Plymouth,
while " Skipper Ireson " floats off Marble
Head in his ill-fated smack.

With a cloud for a blanket the " Indian
Witch " of the Catskills sits on her mountain
peak sending forth fair weather and foul at her
pleasure, while the pygmies distil their magic
liquor in the valley below.

" Atlantis " lies fathoms deep in the blue
waters of the Atlantic, and the " Flying Dutch-
man " haunts the South Seas.

We have our Siegfried and our Thor, whom
men call Washington and Franklin. Our
" Hymer " splits rocks and levels mountains
with his devil's eye, though we call him dyna-
mite.

Israel Putnam and Daniel Boone may yet live
in history as the Theseus and Perseus of our
heroic age.

Certainly our country has her myths and her
folk lore.

In time America, too, will have her saga
book.

Yonder, Black Hawk, chief of the Sac, Fox,
and Winnebago Indians, made his last stand,
was defeated by General Scott, captured and

4 A Pacific Coast Vacation

carried to Washington and other cities of the
East, where he recognized the power of the na-
tion to which he had come in contact. Return-
ing to his people, he advised them that resist-
ance was useless. The Indians then abandoned
the disputed lands and retired into Iowa.

Just north of Chicago we passed field after
field yellow with the bloom of mustard. Call-
ing the porter I asked him what was being grown
yonder. He looked puzzled for a moment, then
his face lighted up with the inspiration of a
happy thought as he replied :

" That, Madam, is dandelion. "

" O, thank you; I suppose that they are being
grown for the Chicago market? " said I, know-
ing that dandelion greens with the buds in blos-
som and full bloom are considered a delicacy
in the city.

" No, Madam," answered my porter wise,
" I don't think them fields is being cultivated
at all."

I forebore to point out to him the well kept
fence and the marks of the plow along it, but
brought my field glasses into play and discov-
ered that the disputed fields had been sown to
oats, but the oats were being smothered out by
the mustard.

Auf Wiedersehen 5

Wisconsin is a beautiful state. Had the
French government cultivated the rich lands of
the Mississippi valley and developed its mineral
resources as urged by Joliet, Wisconsin might
still be a French territory. But all his plans
for colonization were rejected by the govern-
ment he served. A map of this country over
which Joliet traveled may be seen in the
Archives de la Marine, Paris, France, to-day.

The soil is light and farming in Wisconsin
is along different lines from that of her sister
state, Illinois. In every direction great dairy
barns dot the landscape. Corn is grown almost
entirely for fodder. The seasons here are too
short to mature it properly. In planting corn
for fodder it is sown much as are wheat and
oats.

The principal crops of this great state are
flax, oats, hops, and I might add ice. Large
ice houses are seen on every side. Much of the
country is yet wild. Acres of virgin prairie
just now aglow with wild flowers, take me back
to my childhood, when we spent whole days on
the prairie, " Where the great warm heart of
God beat down in the sunshine and up from the
sod; " where Marguerites and black-eyed
Susans nodded in the golden sunshine, and the

6 A Pacific Coast Vacation

thistle for very joy tossed off her purple bon-
net.

Here and there in northern Illinois and Wis-
consin kettle holes mark the track of the glaciers
that once flowed down from the great neve
fields of Manitoba and the Hudson lake district.

In traveling across Wisconsin one is re-
minded of the time when witches, devils, magi-
cians, and manitous held sway over the Indian
mind.

Milwaukee is a name of Indian origin, —
Mahn-a-wau-kie, anglicized into Milwaukee —
means in the language of the Winnebagoes,
rich, beautiful land.

According to an Indian legend the name comes
from mahn-wau, a root of wonderful medicinal
properties. The healing power of this root,
found only in this locality, was so great that the
Chippewas on Lake Superior would give a
beaver skin for a finger length piece.

The market place now stands on the site of a
forest-clad hill, which had been consecrated to
the Great Manitou. Here tomahawks were
belted and knives were sheathed. Here the
tribes of all the surrounding country met to
hold the peace dance which preceded the relig-
ious festival. At the close of the religious serv-

Auf Wiedersehen 7

ices each Indian carried away with him from
the holy hill a memento to worship as an amu-
let.

It was the greatest wish, the most passionate
desire of every Indian to be buried at the foot
of this hill on the bank of the Mahn-a-wau-kie.

Recent investigation has shown that Wiscon-
sin was the dwelling place of strange tribes
long before the advent of the Indian.

The Dells of the Wisconsin river was a
favorite resort of the Indian manitous. Yon-
der is a chasm fifty feet wide, across' which
Black Hawk leaped when fleeing from the
whites. He surely had the aid of the nether
world.

In this beautiful region, hemmed in by rug-
ged bowlder cliffs, lies a veritable Sleepy Hol-
low. In a dense wood back of the cliff stands
the mythical " lost cabin." Many have lost
their way searching for it. The strange thing
about it is that they who have once found it
are never able to find it again. Weird stories
are told about it. Its logs are old and strange,
different from the wood of the dark old forest
in which it stands. There are stories afloat that
it is haunted by its former inhabitants, who
move it about from place to place.

8 A Pacific Coast Vacation

At the foot of this rugged cliff lies Devil's
lake. At the head of this fathomless body of
water is a mound built in the form of an eagle
with wings outspread. Here, no doubt, lies
buried a great chief. Nothing is left in Wis-
consin to-day of the Indian but footprints, —
mounds, graves, legends and myths.

At Devil's Lake lived a manitou of wonder-
ful power. This lake fills the crater of an ex-
tinct volcano. Now this manitou, so the tale
runs, piled up those heavy blocks of stone,
which form the Devil's Doorway. He also
set up Black Monument and Pedestaled Bowl-
der for thrones where he might sit and view
the landscape o'er when on his visits to the
earth. These visits have ceased, since the white
man possesses the country. One day this won-
derful manitou aimed a dart at a bad Indian
and missing him, cleft a huge rock in twain,
which is now known as Cleft Rock. At night,
long ago, he might have been seen sitting on
one of his thrones or peeping out of the Devil's
Doorway watching the dance of the frost fairies
or gazing at the aurora flaming through the
night.

Every night at midnight Gitche Manitou ap-
pears in the middle of the lake.

JUNCTION OF THE MISSISSIPPI AND BLACK RIVERS,

OF THE

UNIVERSITY

Auf Wiedersehen 9

In days gone by a strange, wild creature,
known as the Red Dwarf, roamed the region of
the great lakes, haunting alike the lives of red
man and white.

The snake god, the stone god, the witch of
pictured rocks, were-wolves and wizards held
sway in that charmed region where San Souci,
Jean Beaugrand's famous horse, despite his
hundred years, leaped wall of fort and stockade
at pleasure.

At LaCrosse we crossed Black river into
Minnesota and shortly after crossed the Missis-
sippi. LaCrosse, although French, originally,
means a game played by the Indian maidens
on the ice. The heights on either side of the
Mississippi river remind one of the Catskills
along the Hudson. Indeed, the scenery is very
similar. You easily imagine yonder cliffs to be
the palisades. Here, a spur of the Catskills
range and the little valley between might be
Sleepy Hollow. But you miss the historic
places — Washington's headquarters, Tarry-
town, West Point and others. Like forces pro-
duce like results. When you have seen the
Hudson river and its environs you have seen
the upper Mississippi.

St. Paul and Minneapolis form the commer-

io A Pacific Coast Vacation

cial center of the North. Although the ground
freezes from fifteen to sixteen feet, the concrete
sidewalks and pavements show no effect of the
touch of Jack Frost's icy fingers. The street-
cars here are larger and heavier than any I
have ever seen. Then, too, they have large
wheels, and that sets them up so high. This is
on account of the snow, which lasts from
Thanksgiving to Easter, good sleighing all the
time.

The French and Indian have left to this re-
gion a nomenclature peculiarly its own. There
is Bear street and White Bear street. In the
shop windows are displayed headgear marked
Black Bear, White Bear and Red Cloud. There
are on sale Indian dolls, Indian slippers, French
soldier dolls, Red Indian tobacco, showing
the influence still existing of the two peoples.
One sees many French faces and hears that
language quite often on the streets and in the
cars.

The falls of St. Anthony are at the foot of
Fifth street in Minneapolis. The water does
not come leaping over, but pours over easily
and smoothly in one solid sheet. On either bank
of the river are located the largest flouring
mills in the world. Not a drop of the old Mis-

FALLS OF SAINT ANTHONY.

Auf Wiedersehen 1 1

sissippi that comes sweeping over the falls but
pays tribute in furnishing power for these mills.
Huge iron turbine wheels that twenty men
could not lift are turned as easily as a child
rolls a hoop.

On the site of these mills long ago were
camped the Dakotas. They had just cpme
down from another village where one of the
men had married another wife and brought
her along. The woman was stronger than the
savage in wife number one, and when the In-
dians broke camp and packed up their canoes
and goods for the journey to the foot of the
falls, the forsaken wife, taking her child,
leaped into a canoe and rowed with a steady
hand down stream toward the falls. Her
husband saw her and called to her, but she
seemed not to hear him and she did not even
turn her head when his comrades joined him
in his cries. On swept the boat, while the
broken-hearted wife sang her death-song.
Presently the falls were reached. The boat
trembled for a moment, then turning sideways,
was dashed to pieces on the rocks below.

Minnesota was the land of Gitche Manitou
the Mighty and Mudjekeewis. Mackinack was
the home of Hiawatha and old Nokomis. There

1 2 A Pacific Coast Vacation

Gitche Manitou made Adam and Eve and
placed them in the Indian Garden of Eden. One
day Manitou or Great God made a turtle and
dropped it into Lake Huron. When it came up
with a mouth full of mud, Manitou took the
mud and made the island of Mackinack.

As we steamed up the Mississippi to the falls
of Minnehaha we had a good view of the bank
swallows in their homes in the sandstone
banks along the river. The action of the air
on sandstone hardens a very thin crust on
the surface, and when this is scraped off one can
easily dig into the bank. The swallows are
geologists enough to know this and hundreds
of them have dug holes in the perpendicular
walls. Here the chattering, noisy little cave-
dwellers fly in and out all day long, flying up
over the cliffs and away in search of food or
resting in the shrubbery which grows in the
water near by. It is a pretty sight to see the
happy little fellows skim the water. It makes
you wish that you, too, had wings.

At the entrance of Minnehaha park we were
greeted by a merry wood thrush, whose voice
is melodious beyond description. There he sat
on a swaggy limb not ten feet from us. We
were familiar with his biography and recog-

FALLS OF MINNEHAHA.

Auf Wiedersehen i 3

nized him by his brown and white speckled coat.
We advanced cautiously. We had come six
hundred miles to see him and I think he knew it,
too, for when we were so near that we could
have taken him in our hands he recognized our
presence by nodding his graceful head first this
way, then that, and sang on. We spent some
ten minutes with him, then " bon voyage " he
sang out as we passed on.

Three miles above Minneapolis are the beau-
tiful falls of Minnehaha, Laughing Water.
These falls are beautiful beyond the power of
my pen to describe. The water does not pour
over, but comes leaping and dancing, like one
great shower of diamonds, pearls, sapphires and
rubies. The vast sheet of water sixty-five feet
high reminds one of a bridal veil decked with
gems and sprinkled with diamond dust.

" Where the falls of Minnehaha
Flash and gleam among the oak trees,
Laugh and leap into the valley."

It was here that Hiawatha came courting the
lovely maiden Minnehaha. The falls are sur-
rounded by a government park. Hurrying along
through glen and dale, looking for the falls,
we met a party of young ladies who were hav-
ing a picnic in the park.

14 A Pacific Coast Vacation

I accosted one of them, " Beg pardon, Made-
moiselle, can you tell me where to find the
falls?"

She looked astonished for a moment. " The
falls of what?"

" The falls of Minnehaha."

" O, I don't know; never heard of her," re-
plied my maiden fair as she turned and tripped
away.

It has always seemed so strange to me that
people living near places of interest are often-
times ignorant of the fact.

We next met a youth of some fourteen sum-
mers, who knew the history of St. Paul, Minne-
apolis and their environs. He could tell you all
about the big mills, the soldiers, the barracks
and old Fort Snelling. He knew the story of
Minnehaha, too; had been to the falls hundreds
of times, and knew the Song of Hiawatha as
he knew his alphabet. Gitche Manitou had but
to set his foot on the earth and a mighty river
flowed from his tracks. Mudjekeewis was a
great warrior, but Hiawatha was his hero. It
was with genuine regret that we bade good-by
to this interesting youth.

Our next visit was to old Fort Snelling, three
miles out from St. Paul. This fort was built

OLD FORT SNELLING.

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in 1820. It is round, two stories high and is
constructed of stone. The old fort, of course,
is not used now. The regular soldiers stationed
here are located in delightful quarters. The
barracks are just beyond the old fort. The
hospital is a large, commodious building of
stone. The parade field is a delightful bit of
rolling prairie. The barracks are quite deserted
now, most of the regiment being in the Philip-
pines. Only a small detachment of twenty-five
troops remains to take care of the property.
Fort Snelling was the rendezvous of the Chip-
pewas and the Sioux in the old days of Indian
occupation.

While the two tribes smoked the pipe of
peace and made protestations of friendship they
might not intermarry.

At one of these meetings a Sioux brave won
the heart of a Chippewa maiden. Their love
they kept a secret, but when the tribes met again
at old Fort Snelling a quarrel arose among the
young warriors which resulted in the death of
a Sioux.

The Sioux fell upon the Chippewas with the
cry of extermination.

In the midst of battle lover and loved one
met, but for a moment. They were swept

1 6 A Pacific Coast Vacation

apart and the young warrior knew that the fair
maiden lived only in the land of shadows.

There dwells in the river at the falls of Saint
Anthony a dusky Undine. She was once a
mermaid living in a placid lake, longing for a
soul which the good Manitou finally promised
her upon her marriage with a mortal. The
mortal appeared one day in the form of
a handsome Ottawa brave, and to him
the beautiful mermaid told her tale of
woe. The two were wed. The mermaid
received her soul and the form of a human, but
her new relatives disliked her. They quarreled
over her and at last the Ottawas and the Adir-
ondacks fought over her, and threw her into
the river. There she lives to this day, thank-
fully giving up her soul for the peace and quiet
of a mermaid's life.

This is the home of the pine and the birch.
The white melilotus grows rank in the byways
of Minneapolis.

The horse may not have to go, but the bicycle
has surely come to stay. A unique figure on the
streets of St. Paul is a window washer, black
as the ace of spades, mounted on a wheel. Rags
of all sorts and conditions hang from his
pockets. He carries his brushes aloft a la

ROADWAY, SOLDIER'S BARRACKS, FORT SNELLING.

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" Sancho Panza." He rides up to the curb-
stone, dismounts, leans his steed against the
curb, washes his windows and rides away at a
pace that would make " Don Quixote's sleepy
squire open his eyes in amazement.

A beautiful morning in June finds us aboard
the Great Northern Flyer, bound for the Pacific
coast. We were soon up on the river bluffs.
Here is some fine farming land, the only draw-
back being the lack of well water. The geo-
logical formation is entirely different from
that of Indiana and Illinois, where water may
be had on the bluffs as easily as lower down
toward the riverbed. Here the underground
water current lies on a level with the bed of the
river and a well must go down five or six hun-
dred feet through the bluff before water is ob-
tained.

Our route here follows the Mississippi, which
in places is jammed with rafts of logs on their
way down to the saw mills. Each log bears
the owner's mark. One sees many logs, big
fellows worth ten or fifteen dollars, which have
slipped from their rafts and like independent
boys, get lost in all sorts of places.

George Monte was an Indian lumberman of
th- north. He worked at a chute where the logs

1 8 A Pacific Coast Vacation

were floated down to the river and held back by
a gate until it was time to send them through
en masse. When all was ready the foreman or-
dered the log drivers to open the gate. One
chilly night the order came to open the gate.
The night was dark and the men drew lots to
see who should attempt the dangerous feat.
Monte drew what was to him the fatal slip.
Without a word he opened the door and
passed cut into the night. The jam was broken
and the logs passed through, but hours passed
and Monte failed to return. Then his com-
panions went in search of him. Investigation
showed that the big gate which sank by its own
weight when the pins had been removed, was
held by some obstruction. The object was re-
moved with long spike-poles and proved to be
the mangled body of Monte. The chute was
soon abandoned, for every night at midnight
his ghost walks the banks. His moans can be
distinctly heard above the swish and lap of the

water.

On the Coteau des Prairies (side of the
prairies) in Minnesota, pipe-stone, a smooth
clay, from which hundreds of Indians have cut
their pipes, forms a wall two miles long and
thirty feet high. In front of the wall lie five big

Auf Wiedersehen 19

bowlders dropped there by the glaciers. Under
these bowlders lies the spirit of a squaw, which
must be propitiated before the stone is cut. This
quarry was neutral ground for all the tribes.
Here knives were sheathed and tomahawks
belted. To this place came the Great Spirit
to kill and eat the buffalo of the prairies. The
thunder bird had her nest here and the clashing
of the iron wings of her young brood created
the storms. Once upon a time, when a snake
crawled into the nest to steal the young thun-
derers, Manitou, the Great Spirit, seized a piece
of pipe stone and pressing it into the form of a
man, hurled it at the snake. The clay man
missed the snake and struck the ground. He
turned to stone and there he stood for a thou-
sand years. He grew to manhood's stature
and in time another shape, that of a woman
grew beside him. One day the red pair wan-
dered away over the plains. From this pair
sprang all the red people.

From St. Paul to Fargo not a stalk of corn
was to be seen, but there was field after field of
fine wheat. This part of Minnesota is much
more thickly settled than immediately around
St. Paul and Minneapolis. Morehead in Min-
nesota and Fargo, across the line in Dakota,

2o A Pacific Coast Vacation

are thriving towns. The country here looks
like Illinois. The lay of the land is the same
and groves and houses dot the landscape. Here
dwelt the Dakota tribes from which the states
of Dakota and Minnesota take their names.
Here came Hiawatha and his bride, Minnehaha,
whom he won at St. Paul when the tribe was
visiting that country, for Minnehaha was a Da-
kota girl, you remember.

Hiawatha's fight with his father began on
the upper Mississippi and the bowlders found
there wrere their missiles. Hiawatha fought
against him for many long days before peace
was declared between them.

The evil Peace Father had slain one of Hia-
watha's relatives. He engaged him in combat
all the hot day long. They battled to no pur-
pose, but the next day a woodpecker flew over-
head and cried out, " Your enemy has but one
vulnerable point; shoot at his scalp-lock." Hia-
watha did this and the Peace Father fell dead.
Taking some of the blood on his finger the
victor touched the woodpecker on the head and
the red mark is seen on every woodpecker to
this day.

Dakota as well as Wisconsin has her Devil's
Lake, about which hang many legends, but un-

Auf Wiedersehen 21

like that of Wisconsin the Great Spirit, Gitche
Manitou, does not appear in the middle of it
every night at twelve o'clock.

Indians as well as whites believe in a coming
Messiah. In 1890 a frenzy swept over the
northwest, inspiring the Indians to believe that
the Messiah, who was no less than Hiawatha
himself, and who was to sweep the white people
off the face of the earth, would soon arrive. Da-
kota was the meeting ground of the tribes. Sit-
ting Bull, a Sioux chief, told them in assembly
that he had seen the wonderful Messiah while
hunting in the mountains. He told them that
having lost his way, he followed a star
which led him to a wonderful valley,
where he saw throngs of chiefs long dead, as
they appeared in a spirit dance. Christ was
there, too, and showed him the nail wounds in
his hands and feet and the place where the
spear pierced his side. Then the old rogue re-
turned to his people and taught them the ghost
dance, which caused the whites so much trouble.

Dakota is a beautiful state. The land along
the route of the Great Northern railway lies
more level than in Minnesota. The crops are
looking well in this region. There seems to be
but one drawback to farming here and that is the

22 A Pacific Coast Vacation

famous Russian thistle imported a few years
ago. The principal crops are oats, barley and
wheat. Rye bread is plenty and good, too.
Out there on the broad cheek of the Dakota
prairie the weeds are holding high revelry.
Some of the same old weeds we have at home
and many which are new to the writer. Wild
ducks build their nests in the tall grass of the
ponds just as they did in Illinois thirty years
ago.

At Minot, Dakota, we set our watches to
Mountain time, turning them back one hour.
We arrived at Minot at n :io P. MV remained
fifteen minutes and left at 10:25. At 9:15
o'clock the sun was just sinking in the west.
It does not get dark here, only twilight.
At 10 o'clock the moon came up and we bade
good night to Saturday.

Sunday we spent in the Bad Lands of Mon-
tana. " Hell with the fires out " is the popular
name given to the Bad Lands in the wild, fear-
less nomenclature of the west. It is an ancient
sea bottom. The lower strata is clay and the
one above it is sand. They are wild and rug-
ged beyond description. The action of the air,
wind and storm have worn them into towers,
citadels and fantastic peaks.

Auf Wiedersehen

23

The highly colored scoria rocks crop out
here and there, adding1 a beauty of their own.
Summer and winter, long before the advent of
the white man the coal mines in this region
were burning. Looking down into the fiery
furnace one may see the white-hot glow of the
coal and the heated rocks glowing with a white
heat. Rattlesnakes wriggle through the short
grass. Quails and grouse fly up and away.

There is a banshee in the Bad Lands whose
cries chill your blood if you happen to hear her,
which I did not. She is most frequently seen
on a hill south of Watch Dog Butte, in Dakota,
her flowing hair and her long arms tossing in
wild gestures, make a weird picture in the
moonlight. Cattle will not remain near
the butte and cowboys fear the banshee and
her companion, a skeleton that walks
about and haunts the camps in the vicinity.
Leave a violin lying near and he will
seize it and away, playing the most weird
music, but you must not follow him, for he will
lead you into pits and foot falls. The explana-
tion of £dl this is the phosphorus found in this
vicinity, which glows in the night air.

Standing Rock agency is the best known of
our frontier posts. The rock from which the

24 A Pacific Coast Vacation

post takes its name is only about three feet high
and two feet in width. This rock was once a
beautiful Indian bride who starved herself to
death upon her husband marrying a second
wife. After her death the Great Manitou
turned her to stone, and here she stands to this
day.

Glasgow, Montana, lies in the midst of the
Sioux reservation. Like the Spartans of old,
these warriors of the plains dwell in tents dur-
ing a part of every year. Just beyond the
town tepees now dot the landscape where for
a brief space the red man forgets the things
taught 'him by his white brother and resumes
his old wild ways, but at the approach of winter
he abandons his tent and returns to his log
cabin and to civilization.

The Indian costume is a mixture of savage
and civilized dress, looking more like that of the
Raggedy Man than any other.

Blackfoot is a village in the heart of the
Blackfeet reservation, lying just west of that
of the Sioux. These people, like the ancient
Greeks, reverence the butterfly.

" Ah ! " exclaim these red children of nature
when they see one of these Psyches of the prai-
rie flitting from flower to flower over the green

Auf Wiedersehen 25

meadow, "ah, see him now. He is gathering the
dreams which he will bring to us in our sleep."
If you see the sign for the butterfly which is
something like a maltese cross painted on a
lodge, you will know that the owner was taught
how to decorate his lodge, in a dream by an
apunni, — butterfly. A Blackfeet woman em-
broiders a butterfly on a piece of buckskin and
ties it on her baby's head when she wishes to
put it to sleep. Wrapped in their blankets the
Indians stood about Blackfeet village as we
came in reminding us of Longfellow's address
to "Driving Cloud:"

" Wrapt in thy scarlet blanket, 1 see thee stalk through

the city's
Narrow and populous street, as once by the margin of

rivers
Stalked those birds unknown which have left to us only

their footprints.
What in a few short years will remain of thy race but

footprints?
How canst thou tread these streets, who hast trod the

green turf of the prairies?
How canst thou breathe this air who hast breathed the

sweet air of the mountains?"

When one has trod the velvety green turf of
the prairies and breathed the sweet air of the
mountains he is quite ready to sympathize with
" Driving Cloud."

26 A Pacific Coast Vacation

The government schools for the Blackfeet
Indians are located in a valley beyond Black-
feet village. The schools are conducted ex-
actly as our public schools are, only that the
Blackfeet children must go to school ten months
in the year. Think of that, boys and girls.
During July and August these dusky redskins
get a vacation, which they spend with their
parents and for the time being return to the
savage state. The agent told me they were al-
ways quite wild upon their return to school
after two months of hunting, fishing and liv-
ing in tepees.

Now and then a fine covey of quails or prai-
rie chickens flies up and away. How glad they
would make a sportsman's heart !

With our glasses we see easily two hundred
miles in this rarefied atmosphere. I discovered
several coyotes running along a ledge in the
Bad Lands that I could not see at all with my
naked eye. The Sweet Grass mountains, sixty
miles away on the Canadian line, loom up so
plainly that they appear to be only two miles
distant. With the aid of the glasses we could
see the vegetation and rocks on the sides of the
mountains quite plainly.

The United States geological survey reports

Auf Wiedersehen 27

Montana the best watered state in the Union.
It has more large rivers than all of the states
west of the Mississippi combined. Milk river
is five hundred miles long. This valley
is one of the finest in Montana. Here irriga-
tion is a perfect success.

Here one sees the cowboy in all his pictur-
esqueness. The saddle is your true seat of em-
pire. Montana cattle bring a big price in the
Chicago market. The top price paid in 1897
wras five dollars per hundredweight, and was
paid to George Draggs for a shipment from
Valley county. I would almost be willing to
live in the Bad Lands if I might always have
my table supplied with the juicy mountain beef
which we have been eating since we arrived at
St. Paul.

This is a fine sheep as well as cattle country.

Montana is not all sage brush, coyotes and
rattlesnakes.

Montana has according to the report of the
secretary of the interior seventy million acres
of untillable lands. A great portion of this land
can be reclaimed by irrigation.

We passed the Little Rockies sixty miles to
the north (the distance looked to be only about
two miles). The Bear Paw mountains are

28 A Pacific Coast Vacation

west of these. The Indians are very supersti-
tious about the mountains. The great spirit,
Manitou, they tell us, broke a hole through the
floor of heaven with a rock and on the spot
where it fell he threw down more rocks, snow
and ice until the pile was so high that he could
step from the summit into heaven.

After the mountains were completed Mani-
tou by running his hands over their rugged
sides, forced up the forests. Then he plucked
some leaves, blew his breath upon them and
gave them a toss in the air and lo they sailed
away in the breezy blue birds. His staff he
turned into beasts and fishes. The earth be-
came so beautiful he decided to live on it and
starting a fire in Mt. Shasta he burned it out for
a wigwam.

An interesting part of life on the plains is
the prairie dog and his town, the streets of
which were not laid out by an engineer. Each
dog selects the site of his home to suit his taste.
The houses are about the size of a wagon wheel,
almost perfectly round. As the train whirls
by they sit on top of their houses looking much
like soldiers standing guard. The dogs are
three times as large as a gopher and of a pale
straw color. As one walks toward them, down

Auf Wiedersehen 29

they go through the door, but they are very cu-
rious and presently back they come for another
look. They are agile and graceful in move-
ment. One handsome fellow lay on the pro-
jecting sill of a house basking in the sun. We
approached very near before he saw us. The
flies were annoying him. He shook his head
and blinked his eyes at the flies, paying little
attention to us.

The wild flowers of Montana are as abundant
and beautiful as those of the Alps, and more
varied. Shooting stars greet the spring.
Dandelions abound but do not reach full
rounded perfection. The common blue lark-
spur, however, revels in the cool air and warm
sunshine. The little yellow violet which haunts
the woods in the eastern states makes herself
quite at home here. Blue bells nod and sway in
the breeze, little ragged sun flowers turn their
faces to the sun and mitreworts grow every-
where.

Along the shady streams wild currants flaunt
their yellow flags while hydrangea, that queen
of flowers, lends a shade to the violets blooming
at her feet. Wild roses strew the ground with
their delicate petals. Stately lilies, their pur-
ple stamens contrasting strangely with their

30 A Pacific Coast Vacation

yellow petals, are abundant. The most dainty
of this fair host is the golden saxifrage, and the
most delicate gold thread, whose dainty, slender
roots resemble nothing so much as threads of
pure gold.

At Havre, Montana, the Twenty-fourth
United States Infantry came aboard. They
are stalwart colored soldiers who will do credit
to the uniforms they wear. They go to San
Francisco, where they take transports for
Manila. The good-bys at the station between
the soldiers and their friends and relatives were
pathetic indeed. Not one of the brave fellows
but acted a soldier's part.

Just as the train was pulling out a handsome
girl ran along one of the cars to the window
calling out to her sweetheart :

" O, lift me up till I kiss you again."

We were glad when two big black hands
came out through the open window and strong
arms clasped the maiden for a moment.

Every heart beat with the same thought;
how many of these brave men would return
from the deadly Philippines?

We were proud of the Twenty-fourth when
they bade good-by to their friends at Havre;
we were proud of them when they marched up

Auf Wiedersehen 31

the street at Spokane; we are proud of them
still.

The officers of this regiment are white.
They and their wives came into our car.

The conversation was enlivened with tales
of camp life. When a private, one officer was
greatly annoyed by the Indians, who came day
after day to sit in the shade of his quarters,
when having been on night duty he wanted to
sleep. He bought a sun-glass and when they
began talking he would sit down at the window
and carelessly with the glass draw a focus on
one of his tormentor's feet. With a yell
worthy an Indian with the bad spirit after him
he would bound away, followed by his com-
panions. Soon they would return, when the
glass would be brought into play with the
same effect. At last the Indians came to
believe the house haunted and our captain was
no longer troubled by his red brothers.

After forty miles of mountain climbing we
reached the summit of the Rockies. At nine
o'clock we were still in the mountains and the
sun \vas still shining.

The smallest owl in the world has his home
in these mountains. It is the Pigmy owl, but
you must look sharply if you see him as he flits

32 A Pacific Coast Vacation

from limb to limb and hides in the dense fo-
liage. The Rocky Mountain blue jay is not
blue at all. His coat is a reddish brown, he
sports a black-crested cap and has black bars on
his wings like 'his Illinois brothers.

Flowers, ice, snow and mountain torrents
spread out in one grand panorama. Fleecy
white clouds not much larger than one's hand
float up and join larger ones at the summit of
the peaks. There is no grander scene on earth
than this range of snow-capped mountains
spread out in mighty panorama, peak after peak
and turret after turret glistening in the golden
sunshine against skies as blue as those of
Italy.

" Come up into the mountains — come up into the blue,
Oh, friend down in the valley, the way is clear for you ;
The path is full of perils, and devious, but your feet
May safely thread its windings, and reach to my re-
treat.

The mountains, oh, the mountains ! How all the am-
bient air

Bends -like a benediction, and all the soul is prayer.
How blithely on this summit the echoing wind's refrain
Invites us to the mountains — God's eminent domain.
Oh, soul below in the valley where aspirations rise
No higher than the plunging of water fowl that flies,
Come up into the mountains — come up into the blue ;
Leave weary leagues behind you the lowland's meaner
view,

Auf Wiedersehcn 33

The autumn's rotting verdure, the sapless grasses

- browned,
Come where the snows are lilies that bloom the whole

year round.

Here in the subtle spirit of all these climbing hills,
Man may achieve his dreaming, and be the thing he

wills. — Joseph Dana Miller.

When one has felt the inspiration which the
air of the mountains gives, he feels that he may
achieve his dreaming, may be the thing he
wills.

Ten o'clock found us going down the west-
ern slope of the Rockies in the twilight. Day-
light comes at two o'clock in the morning. All
along the track over the mountains are sta-
tioned track walkers, who live in little shacks.
Before every train which passes over the road
each walker goes over his section to see that all
is well.

All the Indians east of the Rockies located
the Happy Hunting Ground west of the moun-
tains and those west of the divide thought it
was on the eastern side, and that every red
man's soul would be carried over on a cob-web
float.

At Spokane we turned our watches back
another hour. We are now in Pacific Coast
time.

CHAPTER II

PLENTY OF ROOM

THERE is plenty of room in the great North-
west. For twenty-five years to come Horace
Greeley's advice " Go west/' will hold good.
Charles Dickens once said that the typical
American would hesitate to enter heaven unless
assured that he could go farther west. " Go
west." Surely these are words to conjure
with. " Go west," thrills the blood of youth
and stirs the blood of age.

The tide of immigration is turning this way.
No matter what your trade or profession, there
is room for you here.

Agriculture, the supporting pillar in the tem-
ple of wealth of any nation, stands in the
front rank in Washington and Idaho, the soil
being wonderfully productive. Stock raising,
dairying and fruit farming are carried on wTith
great success. But the great mining interest
must not be forgotten. The annual rainfall
varies from thirty-five to sixty inches. A
34

ENTERING THE CASCADE RANGE.

Plenty of Room 35

healthful climate meets one in almost every part
of these great states. Malaria is practically un-
known. As to scenery one may have here the
sublime grandeur of Switzerland, the pictur-
esqueness of the Rhine and the rugged beauty
of Norway.

The lava beds of eastern Washington are
wild and barren as to rocks, but the soil is very
productive when irrigated. The lava is
burned red in many places. Castle after castle
with drawbridge, turrets and soldiers on
guard, all of solid rock, greet the eye. Column
after column stand hundreds of feet high.

The Cascade mountains surpass the Rockies
in grandeur and ruggedness of scenery. We,
crossed on the Switch Back. This is by
" tacking/' as a sailor would say. We had
three engines, mammoth Moguls, one for-
ward, the other two in the rear. There are
but two engines in the world larger than
these.

To explain more fully we went back and
forth three times on the side of the mountain
until we reached the summit, then down on the
other side in the same manner. Going up we
made snowballs with one hand and gathered
flowers with the other, tiger lilies, perfect ones

36 A Pacific Coast Vacation

one and one-half inch from tip of petal to petal
on tiny stalks five inches high. Blackberry
vines run on the ground to the summit of the
mountains. They creep along like strawberry
vines. They are in bloom now and the berries
will ripen in time.

The snowfall last winter on the summit
was one hundred and nine feet. Miles of snow-
sheds are built over the road and men are kept
constantly at work keeping the tracks clear of
snow and bowlders. Five huge snow-plows are
required, all working constantly to keep the
sixty-six highest miles clear. The fall of snow
for one day is often four feet. The Great
Northern road is putting a tunnel through the
mountains now, and will thus do away with the
Switch Back. Eight thousand men work in the
shafts night and day. They have been at work
two years and expect to finish in 1901.

For hours we traveled above the clouds and
at other times we passed through them and
were deluged with rain. Magnificent ferns
grow everywhere on the mountain sides and
towns and villages are to be seen frequently.

Descending the mountains we came to the
Flat Head valley, the scenery of which is wild
and rugged enough to suit the taste of the most

LAVA BEDS IN WASHINGTON.

Plenty of Room 37

imaginative Indian. The Flat Head river, a
wild, raging, roaring torrent which sweeps
everything before it as it comes leaping down
the mountains, flows peacefully enough in the
valley. Here water nymphs bathe in purple
pools, yonder fairies and fauns dance on the
green.

On the trees we see such signs as " Smoke
Red Cloud," " Chew Scalping Knife," " Drink
Smoky Mountain Whisky," " Chew Indian
Hatchet," " Chew Tomahawk," " Drink White
Bear."

Wenatchee valley is famous for its irrigated
fruit farms. A great variety of fruits is grown.
Water is easily and cheaply obtained. Mission
District is another fine fruit valley. The in-
terest in agriculture is growing. Bees do well
here. If you do not own all the land you want
come west where it is cheap, good and plenty.
The country is rapidly filling up with settlers.
We passed fine wheat lands that stretch away
across the country to Walla Walla. Men are
now coming in to the wheat harvest just as in
Illinois they come to cut broomcorn. But they
are a better looking class of men. One sees no
genuine tramp. There is no room for him
here, there is too much work and he sh'uns

38 A Pacific Coast Vacation

such districts as one would a smallpox infected
region.

SEATTLE. — The first white men to explore
this coast was an expedition under command
of Juan de Fuca, a Greek pilot in the service of
the Viceroy of Mexico. They explored the
coast as far north as Vancouver island in 1592.
Two hundred years later Captain George Van-
couver, of the British navy, made extensive ex-
plorations along this same coast. The first over-
land expedition was commanded by Lewis and
Clarke. The next was also a military expedi-
tion and was commanded by John C. Fre-
mont. The first people to settle in the country
were the fur traders. The first mission was
established by Dr. Marcus Whitman at Walla
Walla in 1836. It was Dr. Whitman who rode
to Washington, D. C., leaving here in Decem-
ber, and informed the government of the con-
spiracy of England to drive out all the Ameri-
can settlers and seize the country. The first
town was Tumwater, founded in 1845 by Mi-
chael Simmons. These are some of the people
who helped make Washington.

General Sherman said, that God had done
more for Seattle than for any other place in the
world. It is destined to be the Chicago of the

TANGLE OF WILD FERN IN A WASHINGTON FOREST.

Plenty of Room 39

West. The largest saw-mills in the world are
located here. The population is about eighty
thousand and the increase is rapid. The Uni-
versity of Washington, supported by the state,
is grandly located in Seattle. The Federal
government has a fine military station twelve
miles out of the city.

At every turn Indian names meet the eye.
We steamed down the bay on the Skagit Chief
to the city park, where we lunched at the Du-
ramash restaurant. In the shop windows Uma-
tilla hats, Black Eagle caps and Ancelline ties
are offered for sale.

Ancelline was an Indian princess, daughter
of Seattle. Seattle was chief of the Old Man
House Indians. These Indians had a big wig-
wam in which the entire tribe lived during the
winter. They called this the Old Man House
and the tribe took its name from this house.
There is but one family of these Indians left.

The Indians on this side of the mountains
have never received any support from the gov-
ernment. They are much more industrious
than their red brothers on the other side. There
are many tribes here and many of them are
quite well to do in the way of lands and money.
All talk English but prefer to speak Chinook.

40 A Pacific Coast Vacation

Nokomis was an old Indian woman who did
laundry work for a family in Seattle with
whom I have become acquainted. Nokomis
was exceedingly stubborn. She would permit
no one to tell her how to wash for had she not
washed in the creeks and rivers all her life?
This old woman was somewhat deaf and when
directions were being given her she could not
possibly hear and continued the work her own
way. But when the mistress would say, " Come
Nokomis, have some coppe (Chinook for cof-
fee) and muck amuck (Chinook for 'some-
thing to eat')," she never failed to hear,
though this was often said in a low tone of voice
to test Nokomis's ears.

Wheat in this section easily goes fifty bushels
per acre. The root crops, potatoes, turnips,on-
ions, carrots, beets and parsnips yield enor-
mously, with prices fair to good. The
fruits are fine and prices good. Strawber-
ries sell here now three quarts for twenty-five
cents. The fruits go to Alaska, Canada and
east to Montana and Minnesota. Stock and
poultry do well here and supply eastern markets
at good prices. Another industrial resource in
which many are engaged is fishing. The cod,
halibut, oyster, crab, shrimp, whale and fur

MOUNT RAINIER.

Plenty of Room 41

seal yield fine profits. Canned fish go to the
Eastern States, to Europe, Asia and Australia.
The timber, coal, iron, gold and silver indus-
tries are well represented.

There is one industry that is not represented
here at all, and that is the window-screen indus-
try. There is but one fly in Seattle; at any rate
I have seen but one. Meat markets and fruit
markets stand open. The temperature has aver-
aged sixty-two in the shade for several days.
It is quite hot in the sun, however.

If you are out of a fortune and would like to
make one, come to Washington.

Mount Ranier is the highest peak of the Cas-
cade Range and the most beautiful. Though
standing on American soil it bears an English
name, that of Rear Admiral Ranier of the Eng-
lish navy. The local name was for years Ta-
coma, but in 1890 the United States board of
geographic survey decided that Ranier must
stand on all government maps.

The people of Washington speak lovingly of
this splendid peak which was smoking so
grandly when the Pathfinder found his way
into this country fifty years ago.

From its summit eight glaciers radiate like
the spokes of a wheel down from which flow

42 A Pacific Coast Vacation

as many rivers. Its ice caverns formed by
sulpher vent holes in the crater, its steam jets,
its moss draped pines, its dainty vines and
hemlocks, its grassy vales, where wild flowers
are swayed by the breath of the glaciers, its
beautiful lilies, remind one of " Aladdin's "
journey through the wonderful cave in search
of the magic lamp.

Here blows the heather and the shamrock.

ik With a four-leafed clover, a double-leafed ash, and

a greentopped seave,
You may go before the queen's daughter without asking

leave."

There stands fair Daphne, changed to a laurel
tree.

In the legends of the Silash Indians Mount
Ranier has always been held as a place of super-
stitious regard. It was the refuge of the last
man when the waters of Puget Sound swept in-
land, drowning every living thing except one
man. Chased by the waves, he reached the
summit, where he was standing waist deep in
the water when the Tamanous, the god of the
mountain, commanded the waters to recede.
Slowly they receded, but the man had turned
to stone. The Tamanous broke loose one of his
ribs and changing it to a woman, stood it by

Plenty of Room 43

his side, then waving his magic wand over the
two, bade them to awake. Joyfully this strange
Adam and Eve passed down the mountain side,
where they made their home on the forested
slopes. These were the first parents of the
Silash Indians.

In the very center of the Cascade range
stands another mountain of equal beauty,
Mount St. Helens.

Washington is the home of the genuine sea
serpent. He makes his headquarters in Rock
Lake, where he disports himself in the water,
devouring every living thing that ventures into
it or dares to come on the shore. Only a few
years ago he swallowed an entire band of In-
dians.

Expansion seems to be the law of our na-
tional and commercial life. Beyond the placid
Pacific are six hundred million people who
want the things we produce. China and
Japan furnish a market for our wheat.
The cry now is for more ships to carry
our produce to Asia, Australia, to islands
of the Pacific and to Alaska, not to
speak of the Philippines. Manila is the
center of the great Asiatic ports, including those
of British India and Australia. Our trade with

44 A Pacific Coast Vacation

the Orient is growing- and Manila will make
a fine distributing depot. These eastern coun-
tries use annually over eighty-six million
dollars' worth of cotton goods and nearly forty
million dollars' worth of iron and steel
manufactures. This we can produce in this
country as cheap if not cheaper than in any
other country. Seattle is the best point from
which to export, as the route is shorter than
from San Francisco.

The battleship Iowa is in dry dock here. I
should liked to have been a marine myself and
have stood behind one of those big guns when
Cervera left the harbor of Santiago. And now
I'd like to train that same gun on the anti-ex-
pansionist and send him to the bottom of the
sea, there to sleep with the Spaniards and other
useless things. Officers and marines alike are
proud of their ship and delighted to explain the
mechanism of the guns.

We took a steamer over to Tacoma one
morning, where we had the pleasure of seeing
the North Pacific steamship Glenogle, which
had just arrived from Japan, unload her cargo.
She brought two thousand tons of tea, over
two thousand pounds of rice, two thousand and
twelve bails of matting, two hundred and

STREET IN TACOMA, WASHINGTON.

Plenty of Room 45

eighty-six bails of straw braid, one hundred
and thirty-nine cases of porcelain, two hundred
and eighty-five packages of curios, three thou-
sand packages of bamboo ware, silk goods and
a multitude of small articles made the load.
She had forty Japanese passengers for this port,
and left forty-five at Victoria.

The air was fragrant with the odor of roses
and beautiful pinks.

On the street we met a party of Indians in
civilian dress, wearing closely cropped hair
and moustaches.

Tacoma pays ninety dollars per ton for cop-
per ore from Alaska.

Returning across the bay we met a flock of
crows on the flotsam and jetsam which
floats down from the saw-mills. Their antics
reminded me of a party of school boys playing
tag. At the steamer's approach the leader gave
a warning caw and they were up and away be-
fore the steamer struck their floating play-
ground and scattered it to the waves.

At sunset the reflection of the sun-lit clouds
on the waves and the fire and glow of the spark-
ling water, now ruby red, changing to turquoise
blues and emerald greens, make a scene delight-
ful to the eye of one who loves the sea.

CHAPTER III

OFF FOR ALASKA

" ALL aboard ! " At ten o'clock we steamed
out of the harbor of Seattle and headed toward
Alaska, the land of icebergs, glaciers and gold
fields. Seattle sat as serenely on her terraced
slopes as Rome on her seven hills. The sun
shone bright and clear on the snow-capped peaks
of the Cascades. Mt. Tacoma stood out bold
and clear against the sun-lit sky.

We steamed at full speed down Admiralty
Inlet.

At noon we stop at Port Townsend, the port
of entry for Puget sound. One sees at all these
coast towns many Japanese, some dressed in
nobby bicycle costumes, leading their wheels
about the wharves, others wearing neat busi-
ness suits and sporting canes. The less for-
tunate almond-eyed people are here too, dressed
in the garb of the laborer, but it is to the
former, the padrone, that the American em-
ployer goes for contract labor.
46

Off for Alaska 47

In any qase the laborer pays his padrone a
per cent, of his wages.

It holds true the world over that " some must
follow and some command, though all are made
of clay/' as Longfellow puts it.

We are soon out on the ocean, where it is all
sea and flood and long Pacific swell.

All up and down the picturesque shores of
Puget Sound live the Silash Indians, who to-day
dress in American costumes and follow Ameri-
can pursuits. One sees them on the streets of
the cities and towns. The Silash, like the
ancient Greeks, peopled the unseen world with
spirits. Good and evil genii lived in the forest ;
every spring had its Nereid and every tree its
dryad. They believed the Milky Way to be
the path to heaven; so believed the ancient
Greeks.

One beautiful day there gleamed and danced
in the sunshine a copper canoe of wonderful
design. Down the sound it came. When the
stranger whom it carried had landed he an-
nounced that he had a message for the red man,
and sending for every Silash, he taught them
the law of love. The Indian mind is slow to ad-
just itself to new thought. Such ideas were new
and strange to these children of nature. When

48 A Pacific Coast Vacation

this beautiful stranger about whose head the
sun was always shining, told them of the new,
the eternal life in the world beyond, they list-
ened with deep interest, but the savage was
stronger than the man in the red skins and they
dragged* the stranger to a tree, where they
nailed him fast with pegs in his hands and feet,
torturing him as they did their victims of the
devil dance.

Then they danced around him until the
strange light faded from his beautiful eyes.
Slowly the radiant head dropped and life itself
went out. A great storm arose that shook the
earth to its very center. Great rocks came tear-
ing down the mountain side. The sun hid his
face for three days.

They took the body down and laid it away.
On the third day, when the sun burst forth,
the dead man arose and resumed his teaching.
The Indians now declared him a god and be-
lieved in him.

Year by year the Silash grew more gentle
and less warlike, until of all Indians they be-
came the most peaceful. My readers will read-
ily see that this is a confused tale of the Christ.

Another fantastic tale of this region is that
of an Indian miser who dried salmon and jerked

Off for Alaska 49

meat, which he sold for haiqua, — tusk-shells, —
the wampum .of the Silash Indians. Like all
misers, the more haiqua he got the more he
wanted.

One cold winter day he went hunting on the
slopes of Mount Ranier. . Every mountain has
its Tamanous, to which travelers and hunters
must pay homage. Now the miser, instead of
paying devotion to the god of the mountain,
only looked at the snow and sighed, " Ah, if it
were only haiqua."

Up, up he went, and soon reached the rim
of the volcano's crater, and hurrying down
the inside of the crater he came to a
rock in the form of a deer's head. With
desperate energy he flung snow and gravel
about. Presently he came to a smooth, flat
rock ; summoning all his strength, he lifted the
rock. Beyond was a wonderful cave where
were stored great quantities of the most beauti-
ful haiqua his eyes had ever beheld.

Winding string after string about his body,
until he had all the haiqua he could carry, he
climbed out of the crater and started
down the mountain side. But the Taman-
ous was angry. Wrapping himself in a storm
cloud, he pursued the miser, who buffeted

50 A Pacific Coast Vacation

by the wind and blinded by the snow and dark-
ness, stumbled on, grasping his treasure. The
unseen hands of the god clutched him and tore
strand after strand from his neck.

The storm lulled a moment, but returned with
renewed energy; the thunder and lightning
increased; again the unseen hands held him in
a vice-like grasp. Strand after strand the
angry god tore from the miser's grasp, until by
the time he arrived at the timber line but one
strand remained ; this he flung aside and hur-
ried on down the mountain. Not one shell re-
mained to reward him for his perilous journey.
Weary and foot-sore he fell fainting in the
darkness. When he awoke his hair was
white as the snow on the mountain's
brow. He looked back at the snow-crowned
peak with never a wish for the treasures
of the Tamanous. When he arrived at his
home an aged woman was there cooking fish.
In her he recognized his wife, who had mourned
him as dead for many long years. He dried
salmon and jerked meat, which he sold for
haiqua, but never again did he brave the Ta-
manous of Mount Ranier. Thus ends the
weird tale of Puget Sound.

Clearing this port, our course lay across the

PARLIAMENT HOUSE, VICTORIA.

Off for Alaska 5 1

straits of Juan de Fuca, named for the
Greek explorer before mentioned. The green
slopes of the beautiful San Juan islands now
came into view.

We landed at Victoria, the capital of the
province of British Columbia, at eight o'clock
in the morning. The city was still wrapt in
slumber. A cow placidly munching grass in
the street, looked at us inquiringly. We met a
dejected looking dog and presently a laborer
going to his work.

A handsome hotel occupies a commanding
site, but the doors were closed. Not a store
was open. The government buildings, naval
station and museum are the only places of in-
terest.

The Island of Vancouver is composed of
rock and sand. All along the shore are magnifi-
cent sea weeds, ferns and club mosses, growing
fast to the rocky side and the bottom of the sea.
Many of these plants break loose and go float-
ing about.

Imagine a perfectly smooth, flexible parsnip,
from twenty to fifty feet long, with leaves of the
same length like those of the horse radish in
form, but the color of sapless, water-soaked
grasses, and you have a kelp. Coming toward

52 A Pacific Coast Vacation

you head on, the long leaves floating back under
it, you have a miniature man-of-war.

The fortifications for the protection of the
harbor are submerged. You would never sus-
pect that below that innocent looking daisy
covered surface great guns .were ready at a
moment's notice to blow you and your good
ship to atoms should her actions proclaim her
an enemy.

Farther up the coast Exquimalt, the most
formidable fortress on the American Continent,
occupies a commanding site.

We were glad to retrace our steps to the
steamer and shake from off our feet the dust of
that sleepy old town, which never felt a quiver
when " Freedom from her mountain height un-
furled her standard to the air," and shake off
too that strange feeling which possesses one
when treacling a foreign shore.

All day long Mount Baker of the Cascade
range has stood like an old sentinel, white and
hoary, to point us on our way.

Fair Haven and New Whatcomb, the termi-
nus of the Great Northern railway for pas-
senger traffic, are delightfully located on the
coast. These towns are growing rapidly. The
population is now twelve hundred. The largest

GORGE OF HOMATHCO.

Off for Alaska

53

shingle mill in the world is located here. It
turns out half a million shingles every ten
hours. The saw-mill turns out lumber enough
every day to build five ten-room houses, while
a tin can factory turns out a half million cans
a day.

In time Fair Haven and New Whatcomb will
be two of the most beautiful towns in Washing-
ton. The streets are broad. Green lawns sur-
round handsome homes and pretty cottages.

At noon we passed the forty-ninth parallel,
the boundary line between the United States
and the British possessions. What a vast ex-
panse of territory had been ours had we adhered
to our determination to maintain the fifty-
fourth parallel. " Fifty-four, forty or fight/'
we said, but gave it up without a blow.

Forty miles across from Vancouver lies the
busy collier town of Nanaimo. The Indians
discovered the coal fifty years ago. On the
knoll near the coal wharves, there is^a beauti-
ful grove of madronas. In the surrounding
forest gigantic ferns and strange wild flowers
grow in great profusion. Berries are plentiful
and game abundant.

At Cape Mudge we bid farewell to the Silash
tribes. Cape Mudge potlatches are famous for

54 A Pacific Coast Vacation

their extravagance. In 1888 a neighboring
tribe was worth nearly five hundred thousand
dollars. The British Columbia legislature pro-
hibited potlatches and in one year their wealth
decreased four-fifths. The prohibition of pot-
latches quenched their desire to accumulate
property.

The wild gorge of Homathco is the result of
the relentless glaciers.

In Jervis Inlet is a great tidal rapid, the roar
of which can be heard for miles. It is consid-
ered the equal of the famous Malstrom and
Salstrom of Norway.

At Point Robert we pass the last light house
on the American coast. The stars and stripes
floated from the flag staff. With a dash and a
roar the white crested waves tumbled on the
beach. With a last farewell to Old Glory, we
steam ahead and for six hundred miles plow the
British main.

The scenery becomes more wild, savage,
grand and awful. Snow-clad mountains guard
the waterway on either side. Such Oh's and
Ah's when some scene of more than usual
grandeur bursts upon our view. A canoe shoots
out from yonder overhanging ledge. The

v\\\

LIGHT HOUSE, POINT ROBERT.

Off for Alaska 55

glasses reveal the occupants to be four Indians
out on a fishing expedition.

Nearly every one of our three hundred pas-
sengers was interested in the first whale sighted.
"O yonder he goes, a whale;" " O, see him
spout; " "Now look, look!" "Ah, down he
goes." Then everyone questions everyone else.
" Did you see the whale? " " Did you see our
whale? " " O,we had whales on our side of the
boat," and adds some one, " They were per-
forming whales, too." Then the gong sounds
for dinner and the whale is forgotten in the dis-
cussion of the menu.

Many of our passengers are bound for Daw-
son City, Juneau and other Alaskan points.
One hears much discussion of the dollar, not
the common American dollar, but the Alaskan
dollar, which seems to be more precious as it is
more difficult to obtain.

Here are young men bound for the frozen
field of gold who could carry a message to
Garcia and never once ask, " Where is he
' at? ' " " Who is he? " or " Why do you want
to send the message, anyway?" Young men
with backbone, muscle and brains, who would
succeed in almost any field.

56 A Pacific Coast Vacation

From Queen Charlotte's sound to Cape Cal-
vert we were out on the Pacific. Old Neptune
tossed us about pretty much as he liked, al-
though Captain Wallace, who, by the way, is a
genial gentleman and a charming host, assured
us that we had a smooth passage across this arm
of the old ocean. Many suffered from mal de
mer.

Wrapped in furs and rugs, we sit on deck,
enjoying the panorama of sea and sky. Sun-lit
mountains, white with the snows of a thousand
years and green-clad foot hills covered with
pines as thick as the weeds on a common. Here
and there in a wild, dreary nook the glasses re-
vealed an Indian trapper's cabin. Here he lives
and hunts and fishes. When he has a sufficient
number of skins he loads his canoe and skims
across the water, it may be eighty or a hun-
dred miles, to a town, where he trades his furs
and fish for sugar, coffee, tea, and the many
things which he has learned to eat from his
white brother. He is very fond of tea and rum.
He does not bury his dead, but wraps them in
their blankets and lays them on the top of the
ground, that they may the more easily find
their way to the Happy Hunting Ground.
Then he builds a tight board fence five

FJORDS OF ALASKA.

Off for Alaska 57

or six feet high about the lonely grave
and covers it tightly over the top to
keep out the wild animals which roam
the mountain sides. A tall staff rises from the
grave and a white cloth floats from its pinnacle.
We sighted one of these lonely graves on the
top of a small island on our second day out, and
were reminded of that other lonely grave in the
vale of the Land of Moab.

Bella Bella is an Indian town located on
Hunter island. The houses are all two-story
and nicely painted. There is nothing in the
aspect of the town to indicate that it is other
than a white man's town, though the Indians
who reside here were once the most savage on
the coast. On a smaller island near by is a ceme-
tery. Small, one-roomed houses are the vaults
in which the bodies are placed after being wrap-
ped in blankets. Here we saw the first grave
stones. They stand in front of these vaults
and are higher. On them are carved the owner's
name and his exploits in hunting or war in
picture language.

The Silash Indians are very gentle and kind.
If you are hungry they will divide their last
crust with you. If you are cold they will give
you their last blanket. They wear civilized

58 A Pacific Coast Vacation

dress, fish and hunt and are quite prosperous.
Many hops are grown in the State of Washing-
ton and in the fall these Indians go down in
their canoes to pick hops. They are preferred
to white pickers, because of their industry and
honesty.

Saturday night we crossed " Fifty-four forty
or fight " and Sunday morning found us in
Alaska.

FISHING HAMLET OF KETCHIKAN.

OF THE

UNIVERSITY

OF

CHAPTER IV

FIRST VIEWS

WE visited the Indian village of Kitchikan.
The Episcopalians have a mission at this place.
The teacher is an able young woman. A young
lady, a handsome half-breed Indian girl, came
upon the wharf to meet someone who came on
the boat. Her carriage, language and manner
were those of a lady. We landed some freight
at this point. The freight agent was a half-
breed Indian, quite good looking and a gentle-
man.

New Metlakahtla is a most attractive village
on the Annette Islands.

The Metlakahtlans are the most progressive
race in Alaska. Mr. Duncan visited the United
States in 1887, enlisting aid for the Indians.
Henry Ward Beecher and Phillips Brooks be-
came champions of his cause.

The government at Washington assured Mr.
Duncan that his people would be protected in
any lands which they might select in Alaska.

59

60 A Pacific Coast Vacation

In the spring of 1887 four hundred Metla-
kahtlans crossed to the Annette Islands.

These enterprising people print their own
newspaper. They have a photographer. The
silversmiths, woodcarvers and bark weavers do
a large business on tourist days.

The salmon cannery ships from six to eight
thousand cases a year. There is a government
school and a boarding school for girls. On
steamer days the Indian band plays on a plat-
form built on the tall stump of a cedar.

These people, all Christians, have all sub-
scribed and faithfully live up to a code of rules,
called the Declaration of Residents.

The inhabitants are greatly disturbed over
the discovery of gold on these islands. The
white man discovered the gold and now he
wants the islands. ' Will the government keep
faith with the Metlakahtlans ?

Now let me tell the boys and girls what our
vessel has down in her hold. Our boat, The
Queen, is three hundred and fifty feet long and
draws twenty-five feet of water, so you see she
has a big hold down below her decks. There
are twenty big steers going to Juneau to be
made into beef; two big gray horses go-
ing to Dawson to work about the mines

First Views 61

in the Klondike and when winter comes to be
killed and dried for meat for dogs, as there will
be no feed for the horses in the Klondike when
winter sets in and the grass dies. A sad fate.
They are gentle horses, poking their noses into
your hand as you pass for an apple, peach or bit
of grain. There are five hundred chickens down
there, too, going to different points in Alaska.
Two little Esquimaux pups, worth one hundred
dollars each, are also here. Their mother,
which was killed by the electric cars at Seattle
the day before we sailed, cost four hundred
dollars. The little curly-haired fellows play
and tumble about very much like kittens, then
suddenly they remember their mother and set
up such a pitiful wail.

There is also a big, black Husky aboard. He
is a cross between an Indian (not an Esqui-
maux) dog and a wolf. He is a big, heavy
fellow, large of head, strong of limb and feet
widened in muscular development wrought in
his race by generations of hard service in this
rugged climate. He is valued at three hundred
and fifty dollars. He will pull three hundred
pounds and travel forty miles a day over ice
and snow, being fed but once a day on dried
fish.

62 A Pacific Coast Vacation

The most curious and by far the handsomest
dog aboard is a Malamute. He is a beautiful
dog. His furry coat is heavy and his fine ears
stand erect. For actions, manners and affection
for his master he is a fine specimen of the canine
tribe. His walk is somewhat of a stride like
that of the bear.

His owner, who lives in Chicago, is aboard.
He paid three hundred dollars for the dog and
took him home, but it is too warm for him in
Chicago, so he is taking him back to Alaska.

There are many cases of oranges, lemons,
peaches, apples, apricots and plums and tons of
groceries of all sorts for Skagway, Dawson,
Junea, Sitka and other Alaskan points. Also
many pounds of dressed beef, mutton, flour,
cornmeal, oatmeal and canned goods. There
are one thousand cases of oil, lots of dry goods
and many miners' outfits. So you see there is
quite a- traffic up and clown this coast.

As we steam steadily on toward the home of
Hoder, the stormy old god of winter, the air
grows colder, the scenery more wild and
strange. Snowclad mountains, sun-lit clouds
resting on their peaks and veiling their sides,
blue sky and sparkling water make a scene
which may be imagined but not described.

g

First Views 63

Alaska is the aboriginal name and means
" great country/' It was at the request of
Charles Sumner that the original name was re-
tained. Seven million two hundred thousand
dollars for a field of stony mountain, icebergs
and glaciers ! Had Seward gone mad ? Ah, no.
He builded wiser than he knew. Alaska is
nine times the size of the New England States
and cost less than one-half cent per acre.

The northwest coast of Alaska was discov-
ered and explored by a Russian expedition un-
der Behring, in 1741. Russian settlements
were made and the fur trade developed.

The climate is no colder than at St. Peters-
burg and many other parts of Russia. The
warm Japan current sweeps the coast and tem-
pers the climate. Sitka is only three miles north
of Balmoral, Scotland. The isothermal line
running through Sitka runs through Rich-
mond, Va., giving both points the same temper-
ature. The average summer temperature is
fifty-two degrees and the average winter
weather thirty-one degrees above zero.

The average rainfall at this point is eighty-
two inches. Native grasses and berries grow
plentifully in the valleys. The chief wealth of
the country lies in its forests, fish, fur-bearing

64 A Pacific Coast Vacation

animals and mines. The forest consists of yel-
low pine, spruce, larch, fir of great size, cypress
and hemlock. The wild animals include the elk,
deer and bear. The fur-bearing- animals are the
fox, wolf, beaver, ermine, otter and squirrel.
Fur-bearing seals inhabit the waters along the
coast. Salmon abound in the rivers.

It is one of the secrets of the rebellion that
the large sum paid to Russia for Alaska was to
compensate her for the presence of her war-
ships in our harbor during the early days of the
Civil War, thus helping to prevent English in-
terference.

Fort Wrangel is delightfully located on the
green slopes of the mountains. It was once a
Russian military post and takes its name from
the Russian governor of Alaska, Baron
Wrangel.

Here are some fine totem poles. Totemism
is a species of heraldry. Their whales, frogs,
crows, and wolves are no more difficult to un-
derstand than the dragons, griffins, and fleur-
de-lis of European heraldry. The totem pole
of the Alaskan Indian is his crest, his monu-
ment. The totem is his clan name, his god.
He is a crow,ji raven, an eagle, a bear, a whale,
or a wolf. It is the old story of Beauty and the

First Views 65

Beast. The beautiful raven maiden may live
happily with her bear husband.

Every Indian claims kinship with three
totems. The clan totem is the animal from
which the clan descended. There is a totem
common to all the women of the clan. The
men of the clan have a totem and each indi-
vidual when he or she arrives at manhood or
womanhood chooses a totem sacred to him or
herself. This totem is his guardian angel and
protects him from danger and harm. The
Alaskan Indian believes the eagle to be the
American man's totem and the lion and the
unicorn the two totems of the Englishman.

The civilized races of antiquity all passed
through the totem period. Our Indians all had
their totems as their names indicate, Blackfeet,
Crow and Sioux. Totems are common to all
savage races, but the Alaskan Indian is the only
North American who erects a monument to his
totem.

While the totem protects the Indian the In-
dian is in duty bound to protect his totem. He
may neither kill nor eat his own totem, but he
may with impunity kill the god of another. If
you kill his totem he will be grieved and sor-
rowfully ask, "Why you kill him, my brother ?"

66 A Pacific Coast Vacation

These people were evolutionists long before
Darwin. There are no monkeys, however,
among the totems of the Alaskan Indians.

When an Indian marries he takes his wife's
name, the name of her clan totem. The children,
too, belong to the mother's totem, and, of
course, take her name. The wife is the head
of the family, managing it and transacting all
the business.

These Indians and all the Indians of
southern Alaska are Tlingits. Tlingit means
people. There are many traditions among
them of a supernatural origin ; one to the effect
that the crow in whom dwelt the Great Spirit
lived on the Nass River, where he turned two
blades of grass into a man and a woman. This
was the first pair from whom sprang all
Tlingits. They have tales of a migration from
the southeast, the Mars River country. Their
propitiation of evil spirits, their shamanism and
their belief in the transmigration of souls, all
point to Asiatic origin, yet there is no tradition
among them of any such origin. Once, many
thousands of snows ago, a Tlingit stole the sun
and hid it, then nearly all the people died, but
the crow found it and placed it in the sky again.
After this the tribe increased.

CHIEF SHAKE'S HOUSE, FORT WRANGLE.

First Views 67

The Tlingit idea of justice is something of a
novelty. The code, however, is short; an eye
for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth, is always
strictly demanded. A Tlingit once shot at a
decoy duck, but he made the owner pay for the
shot used. A young Indian stole a rifle and ac-
cidentally killed himself with it. His relatives
made the owner pay for the dead thief. If a
patient dies under a doctor's care he pays for
him.

Before the advent of the white man shaman-
ism held sway. When a Tlingit fell ill he sent
for his medicine man, who by incantations
cured him, or failing that, accused some one of
bewitching his patient. The wizard or witch
was tortured and put to death, after which the
sick Indian recovered or died, as the case might
be.

Captain E. C. Merriman, of the U. S. Navy,
destroyed the power of the shaman by rescuing
the accused and punishing the shaman.

The shaman spends the greater part of his
life in the forest, fasting and receiving inspira-
tion from his totemic spirits. A concoction
of dried frogs' legs and sea water give him
power to perceive a man's soul — the Tlingit
woman had no soul then — escaping from his

68 A Pacific Coast Vacation

body and to catch it and restore it to the
man.

The Tlingits practiced cremation, but the
body of a shaman was never cremated, it would
not burn. It was always buried in a little box-
like tomb. The body was wrapped in blankets
and placed in a sitting posture, surrounded by
the masks, wands, rattles, and all the parapher-
nalia of the office of a shaman, ready for use
in the heaven to which he had gone.

The missionaries have destroyed faith in the
shaman and broken up the practice of crema-
tion.

At Fort Wrangel we called on the chief. He
has the tallest and the most handsomely carved
pole in the Indian village.

There are three kinds of totem poles. The
family totem pole, which is erected in front of
the home. On it are carved figures represent-
ing the totems of the family, the wife's totem
always surmounting the pole and the husband's
next below. Then appear totems of other
members of the family.

The death totem pole is erected at the grave.
On it are engraved the totems of the dead man's
ancestors, as well as his own. The third class
of poles are erected to commemorate some re-

First Views 69

markable event in history of the tribe or of the
man. These poles may be seen up and down
the coast from Vancouver to Yakutat.

'* And they painted on the grave-posts
Of the graves yet unforgotten,
Each his ancestral totem,
Each the symbol of his household,
Figures of the bear, the reindeer,
Of the turtle, crane and beaver.

— Longfellow.

The fine flower of the native races of the
coast are the Haidas. They are taller and
fairer, with more regular features than any of
the Columbian coast tribes. They are aliens to
the Tlingits, differing from them mentally and
physically, in speech and customs. The Tlingits
call them "people of the sea." They were the
Norsemen of the Pacific shores; the coppery
Erics and Harolds, who sailed the blue waters
of the Pacific, sweeping the coast, attacking
native villages, Hudson Bay Company posts,
and the settlements of the whites. The harbor
at Seattle was a place of rendezvous.

The origin of this daring race is a mystery.
They hold many traditions in common with
the Aztec and Zunis of Mexico. Marchand
identifies them with those whom Cortes drove
out of Mexico. Many of their images are simi-

70 A Pacific Coast Vacation

lar to silver relics found in the ruins of Guate-
mala.

These people bear a resemblance to the Jap-
anese. They have Japanese words in their
language ; they sit always at their work and cut
towards them in using tools, which are much
like those in use by the Japanese to-day. They
have also many modern Apache words in their
speech, while their picture writing is similar
and in many cases the same as that of the
Zunis.

Their own legend of their origin runs in this
wise: During a great flood when every living
thing on the earth perished, a few people floated
to the tops of the mountains in canoes, which
they anchored with heavy stones. The water
rose so high, however, that they at last were
drowned.

The only living thing to survive the flood
was a raven. When the waters had subsided
he flew down to the coast, where the waves
dashing on the rocks sent forth a noise as of
thunder. Presently he heard the cry of babies;
directly a huge shell came rolling in on the
sandy beach. The raven opened it and out came
a strange people. In thankfulness for their de-

First Views

71

liverance they have made the raven their clan
totem.

These people make baskets and mats to-day
exactly like those made by the natives of the
Islands of Polynesia, while their carving, in
which they excel all other tribes of the North,
resembles the sculpture of ancient Egypt.

Totem poles originated with these people and
spread from them to other tribes with whom
they came in contact. They practiced crema-
tion and their death totem poles are always
hollow, making a receptacle for the ashes of the
dead.

The earliest explorers found these people liv-
ing in houses built of heavy, hewn logs, and
planks hewn out and neatly mortised. The
houses were covered with a hip roof, supported
by heavy rafters and thatched with an odd sort
of shingle, clipped or hewn out of the logs. On
the plank floors were mats made from a rush
which grows on the islands.

The old Hydahs were a warlike people, who
were ever waging battle with the fierce Chilkats.

CHAPTER V

FURTHER GLIMPSES

WRANGEL narrows is one of the finest scenic
passages along the coast of Alaska. The mag-
nificent range of snow-covered mountain peaks,
the green-clad slopes on the shore and the
Stickines delta compose as noble a landscape as
one will see anywhere in the world. The
sunset and sunrise lights in the narrows and on
the snowy, cloud-wreathed mountains are mar-
velous pictures of beauty, beyond the power of
pen or brush to portray.

At low tide broad bands of russet hued algae
border the sea-washed shores. Giant kelp
break loose from their moorings and go floating
about, their yellow fronds and orange heads
contrasting strangely with the intense green of
the water. The Indians say these kelp are the
queues of shipwrecked Chinamen. Many eagles
build their nests in the trees, while myriads of
seagulls skim the water.

The scenery of the Stickine river is equally
72

ENTERING WRANGLE, NARROWS.

OF THE

UNIVERSITY

OF

Further Glimpses 73

grand. Three hundred glaciers drain their
waters into this river.

The tourist meets the first tide water glacier
in the Bay of Le Conte. The Stickine Indians
called it Hutli, Thunder Bay. Here, they say,
dwells Hutli, the Thunder Bird. To their
imaginative mind the cracking of the ice and
the noise of the falling icebergs, is the cry of
Hutli, and the roar of the falling water the
flapping of his huge wings.

In Lapland the guardian spirit of the moun-
tains is known as Haltios.

Juneau is located at the foot of Mt. Juneau,
which is more than three thousand feet high.
It is snow-capped and delicious water comes
pouring down the mountain sides. Juneau is
a newly built town and is the largest on the
coast. It has a population of thirty-five
hundred. Just below the town is a village
of Taku Indians. Back of the village are the
grave houses. Here we find totem poles and
Indian offerings to the spirits. Steamers bring
to this wharf fruits and vegetables. Radishes,
lettuce and onions, also rhubarb, look tempting
in the gardens. Juneau is the home of many
miners and prospectors. The chief mining
interest in this vicinity is the Treadwell mines,

74 A Pacific Coast Vacation

located on Douglas island, just across Gasti-
neau channel from Juneau. The ore runs from
two dollars and twenty cents to four dollars
per ton only, but the water power coming from
the mountains makes the working of the mines
cheap, so that the company is enabled to pay
large dividends. Hundreds of sacks of gold,
nearly free from rock, lay day and night on the
wharves, waiting for the steamers to carry it
away to the stamping mill. On the wharf at
Treadwell lay twenty thousand dollars.

The mill spoken of is the largest in the world.
It runs eight hundred and eighty stamps day
and night. There is enough ore in sight
to run the mill twenty-four hours a day
for thirty years. The mountains are be-
ing literally blasted down and carted away.
The Indians work in the mines, but they
cannot compete with their Anglo Saxon
brothers, they earning only about half as much.
They will not trust the white man over night,
hence are paid at the close of each day.

The Indians wear citizens' clothes and carry
watches. Many of them sport canes when
walking about the streets. The women and
girls do the family washing- on the rocks in the
mountain streams. One little black-eyed,

DOUGLAS ISLAND, LOOKING TOWARD JUNEAU ,

Further Glimpses 75

brown-faced witch who said her name was
Troke Lewis, was washing- handkerchiefs on a
big rock over which the water poured. She
paused to talk to us, a cake of soap held high in
one hand, while with the other she held her
handkerchiefs down in the cold water on the
rock.

Just around the cliff, back of Juneau, lies the
beautiful Silver Bow canon.

There are plenty of fine fish in the bay. Sal-
mon, trout and eels abound. The writer caught
a trout weighing ten pounds and an eel weigh-
ing one pound.

Skagway is located on the Lynn canal at the
foot of Mt. Dewey, which rises sheer fifty-
five hundred feet above the sea. The cli-
mate is very mild, the thermometer never
being known to register over six below
zero. A veritable Ganymede sends down
a vast supply of the most delicious water.
Skagway is the coming city of Alaska.
It will be to Alaska what Chicago is to the
Middle Western States, what St. Paul and
Minneapolis are to the Northwest and what
Seattle is to the North Pacific coast. Streets
are being laid out and other improvements are
going on. Log cabins covered with tar paper

j6 A Pacific Coast Vacation

are being replaced by more substantial build-
ings. People are coming here to stay and the
representative inhabitants of this youthful town
are men and women of refinement and culture
from the Eastern and Middle States.

At Skagway all sorts of vegetables are grow-
ing in the gardens, lettuce, radishes, onions,
potatoes, cabbage and tomatoes.

We spent the Fourth of July in this place.
Congressman Warner invited us to join him
and the senatorial party for the day. We went
to the summit of the Selkirk mountains, to the
head of the Yukon River on the White Pass
and Yukon railway, after which the party was
entertained in Skagway.

Observation cars were especially prepared
for the party. These consisted of flat cars
around which run a railing. The seats were
reversable and ran lengthwise of the cars. Thus
you might view the wall of granite along which
you were passing or reverse the seat and behold
the wonderful things to be seen in the pass be-
low, where the march of Civilization has left
her trail, cabins, mining camps, amidst snow
and flowering mosses, tin cans, cracker boxes;
and last but not least, horses and mules just as

Further Glimpses 77

good as when they lay down to their last sleep
in these wilds.

The run to the summit was made in two
hours. Over the same route men and pack
mules plod along three weeks. Only in places
is there much vegetation on these granite moun-
tains. Toward the summit blackberries are in
bloom. They are perfect plants only two
inches high, each plant sending out two
or three branches loaded with bloom. Dwarf
pines and tufts of grass grow in the crevices of
the rocks and on the sides of the mountains,
where a little soil has found lodgment.

The White Pass and Yukon railway, which
was opened in February, now runs trains over
the summit to Lake Bennet. Work is being
pushed rapidly forward to the final destination,
Ft. Selkirk, Northwest Territory. The dis-
tance from Skagway to the summit is sixteen
miles. The road was blasted out of solid gran-
ite all the way and is a wonderful feat of engi-
neering skill.

There are the usual curves and loops, but
these are not sufficient to overcome the steep
grade which rises two hundred feet to the mile.
The road rises thirty-two hundred feet in the

78 A Pacific Coast Vacation

sixteen miles. At one place the train was run
up into a ravine on a Y. The engine was un-
coupled and coming in behind us pushed the
coaches up to the summit.

The ice bridges all through the mquntains are
in good repair, the turbulent streams flowing
under them with a dash and a roar of the Sel-
kirk's own.

All along the way to the summit is visible on
the opposite side of the pass, the foot trail of
the Indians. This narrow path lies along the
sheer cliffs, dropping suddenly into deep ra-
vines, then almost straight up the precipitous
side of the mountain.

An enterprising company has built a wagon
road to the summit, but a nervous person had
best run his carriage on more level ground.
This road stands on end in many places. It
runs along level enough for a foot or two then
takes a header into a ravine, presently it winds
over a frail bridge which the spooming torrent
below threatens every minute to wreck.

The wagon relegated the trail to oblivion.
Then came the railroad and travel and com-
merce deserted the wagon road. Here they
lie, the foot trail on one side, the wagon way
on the other, and just above the road way, the

OLD RUSSIAN COURT HOUSE, JUNEAU.

Further Glimpses 79

railway. Three path ways; that of the un-
taught, unskilled Indian, that of the enterpris-
ing pioneer and that of the modern engineer,
traverse this play ground of the Titans.

At the summit of the mountains Old Glory
waves beside the British flag. Several British
red-coated police are on duty at this point.
They live in one-room frame houses covered
with sail cloth.

The Yukon river rises at this point and flows
four thousand miles into Behring Sea. Just
now the head is a bank of snow from which we
made snowballs.

The railroad will shortly be completed to
Lake Bennet. From that point, with the excep-
tion of White Horse rapids, is a clear, unim-
peded water route to Dawson City, in the heart
of the Klondike.

From the Dawson City Midnight Sun we
learn that this metropolis of the Northwest
Territory is quite a busy place.

Hundreds are leaving for the Cape Nome
country by every steamer, and many are making
the trip in open boats.

A disastrous fire occurred on the hill back
of Dawson on Wednesday last, when about
forty cabins were destroyed by the blaze. In

8o A Pacific Coast Vacation

many cases the entire contents were destroyed,
while some few were enabled to save their out-
fits. The fire caught from a small bonfire
down near the Klondike, and in the first ravine
up that stream. It ran up the hill to the trail,
and then burning down towards the ferry, also
destroyed half the homes on the lower side of
the trail. The loss is estimated to reach about
five thousand dollars, and fell on a class who
could ill afford the loss, some being left abso-
lutely destitute.

Scows and boats through from Lake Bennett
- began arriving in great numrers the last of the
week, and are continuing to do so.

Trunks and bandboxes are taking the place
of dunnage bags heretofore brought into the
country. Every steamer is unloading cords of
them.

Men who during the winter were spending
hundreds of dollars over the gambling tables
are now looking for a chance to work their pas-
sage out.

The suspicious actions of two strangers over
on Gold Run has caused gold sacks to be
guarded more carefully.

Two men while poling a boat up the river,
were overturned near the mouth of the Klon-

STREET IN JUNEAU.

Further Glimpses 81

dike, losing a valuable kit of tools. The men
were picked up by a boat pushed off from the
river bank.

The grand opera house, built by Charles
Meddows, is to be the finest building in Daw-
son. It is three stories high. The auditorium
has a seating capacity of two thousand and a
double row of boxes, forty-two in number.

From present indication Dawson will cele-
brate the Fourth of July as it was never before
celebrated. Citizens of Canada are as eager
supporters of this movement as are those of the
States. There was a public mass meeting held
in June at the A. C. warehouse, when there was
about five hundred people present, and an exec-
utive committee appointed. Since then the
different committees have been appointed and
are meeting even better support from all
quarters than expected.

The foreman of the Gold Hill mine saved
from his washup a thousand dollars' worth of
handsome nuggets. Over these he kept a jeal-
ous eye continually until last Friday. Between
seven and eight o'clock that evening he went
to a neighboring cabin to bid good-by to Sam
Miller, who was preparing to return to the
States. During his temporary absence some

8 2 A Pacific Coast Vacation

sneak thief entered the cabin and cutting open
a valise secured the sack of nuggets, but in his
haste overlooked fifteen hundred dollars in dust
lying near by.

We learn that a responsible firm is organiz-
ing a properly conducted express company,
which will be prepared to carry parcels, gold
dust, and attend to commissions. Thus a long
felt want will be supplied in connection with
Dawson's dealing with outside points.

The foreman of the Eldorado is doing
the finest piece of mining yet seen in the Klon-
dike. A passer by would think that his large
force of men was laying off a baseball ground,
so level is the entire five hundred-foot claim
being stripped for summer sluicing.

Cards are out announcing the marriage of
two of Dawson's most prominent young peo-
ple.

A beautiful baby girl born over on Bonanza
claim the other day is considered the most
valuable nugget on the claim.

Patrick O'Flynn, a prisoner serving a six
months' sentence, escaped Thursday and has
gone, nobody knows where. He, with other
prisoners, was carrying water from the Yukon
when he bolted among the tents along the river

GREEK CHURCH, JUNEAU.

Further Glimpses 83

bank, mingled with the crowd and was lost
sight of. One hundred dollars reward was
promptly offered for information leading to
his capture.

The Yukon has been steadily rising for the
past week, and the high water mark is not yet
reached. Water is backed up in the Klondike,
overflowing the island.

This little city came near having a Johns-
town flood last winter. An eye witness thus
describes how the ice went out at Dawson.
The river had been frozen all winter. When a
few warm spring days came, the melting ice
and snow in the mountains sent down immense
volumes of water the strain of which the ice
could not long withstand. All day the people
stood helplessly about discussing the situation.
A flood seemed inevitable; the greater part of
the city was in danger of being swept away;
until three o'clock in the afternoon the situa-
tion was unchanged, the ice gave no evidence
of going.

Suddenly and almost simultaneously all
along the city front the ice was seen to com-
mence moving. A steamboat whistled and the
cry went up, " The ice is moving/' and thou-
sands of spectators rushed to the river bank

84 A Pacific Coast Vacation

just in time to see it go. The dancing masses
of huge pieces of ice weighing tons upon tons,
reared high in the air and tumbling over each
other as. they fell, presented a most beautiful
spectacle. At ten o'clock it jammed and
raised the water about three feet, doing no
damage except smashing the wheel of the
steamer Nellie Irving. In ten minutes the jam
broke and the next morning the river, which
the day before was frozen solid across, was en-
tirely free except for blocks of floating ice from
above.

Last year ice jammed and, backing the water
up, flooded the town, doing much damage.

INDIAN CHIEF'S HOUSE, JUNEAU.

CHAPTER VI

GOLD FIELDS

THE United States Geological Survey has
gathered a volume of information on the sub-
ject of the gold fields of Alaska. The object of
the expedition was to discover the source from
which the gold of the Yukon placer mines was
derived. A belt of auriferous rocks, five hun-
dred miles long and from fifty to one hundred
wide, runs from the British Territory across
the American line at Forty Mile Creek. It is
the opinion of the Geological Survey that the
gold deposits of Alaska will rival those of
South Africa.

Returning to Skagway the gentlemen of our
party were entertained at a banquet given by
the members of the Chamber of Commerce, in
their building.

The ladies were invited by Mrs. Bracket to

her lovely home where a delightful luncheon

was served. The leading ladies of Skagway

were met at the home of our charming hostess

85

86 A Pacific Coast Vacation

to bid us welcome to their enterprising little
city.

An employe of the engineering department
of the White Pass and Yukon Railroad
is at the Portland hotel. He came in
from Cariboo Crossing to celebrate the Fourth,
and recuperate from a hard trip up the
Watson river and along the foothills of the
mountains to the Fifty Mile river below White
Horse Rapids. Most of the country through
which the party traveled is entirely new to map
makers and no signs of trails, mess debris,
chopping or other evidences of a previous visi-
tation could be found. As a consequence a
number of streams and lakes were discovered.
Of the latter some are quite large and are teem-
ing with large lake trout. The latter were
caught in large numbers by throwing a common
pickerel trotting hook, attached to a line, out
into the lake and hauling it ashore. It was sel-
dom that a cast failed to land a fish. Artificial
flies had no attraction for them. In appear-
ance these fish look very much like the moun-
tain trout of Puget Sound, but are much lighter
in color. The topographer of the party, says
they are identical with the trout found in the
Adirondack lake regions.

SUMMIT OF THE SELKIRK RANGE, AT HEAD OF YUKON RIVER.
OLD GLORY WAVES BESIDE THE BRITISH FLAG.

•B

THE SKAGUAY ENCHANTRESS.

Gold Fields 87

The head chainman, killed a huge brown
bear, which, after being shot, made a furious
charge upon him and was only laid low when
but a few feet away from his slayer.

The lower lands of this country are almost
entirely devoid of rock. The soil is an ashy
sand patched with powdered limestone stretch-
ing over the country in white patches like alkali
lakes. On the Forty Mile river declivity the
country is cut up with huge pot-holes. Many
of these contain lakes of the purest water, that
gleam in the sunlight in green, azure and dark
blue according to their depths and shades. A
curious peculiarity of these lakes lies in the fact
that their outlets and inlets are subterranean.
They receive their supply from the bottoms
of lakes above and their overflow per-
colates through their lower banks to lakes
below.

The country swarms with ducks, snipe and
other water fowl. It is now the breeding sea-
son and ducks followed by broods of ducklings
may be seen along the edge of every sheet of
water. Much fresh sign of bear, moose, moun-
tain sheep and cariboo were seen throughout
the country, but the noise attendant upon the
progress of the party along the line of their

88 A Pacific Coast Vacation

journey, gave all the big game a good opportu-
nity to get out of sight.

The open coulees and plateaus of this country
are waving with luxuriant bunch-grass, rye-
grass and redtop, but the mosquitoes are in
such untold numbers and so violent in their at-
tacks that the pack horses of the party were too
worried to receive much benefit in grazing. In
places are woodlands of large spruce and tall
lodge-pole pines, but most of the timber is
scrubby and fit only for fuel.

No indications of mineral could be seen.

The night before the Fourth a large flag was
planted on top of Mt. Dewey. The town was
decorated with bunting and flags. Well dressed
people thronged the streets. An oration was
delivered from the grand stand and foot
and horse races lent zest to the sports.

The town has two fire companies. These
exhibited their hose-carts and ran a race, mak-
ing an exhibition of their skill in handling the
hose. Water is plenty, as it comes down the
mountain side in a vast volume from a lake near
the summit of Mt. Dewey and is piped over the
town.

While the town looks and is new there was
nothing to distinguish the celebration of the na-

SKAGUAY, SHOWING WHITE PASS.

Gold Fields 89

tional holiday from the same day in the States.

We are now above the line of night. It is as
light as day all night. No light is needed as
one can read at any time of night without it.
The sun scarcely sets in the west until it rises
in the east. At Summit lake, which is at the
top of the mountains, there is no night at all,
it being in latitude sixty north and longitude
one hundred and sixty west.

The display of the aurora borealis each night
is a scene never to be forgotten. Night after
night the whole northern sky is aflame with a
light akin to sunlight tempered by moonlight
and enriched by the splendor of the rainbow's
glorious hues. The Tlingit Indians believe the
aurora to be the ghost-dance of dead warriors
who live on the plains of the sky.

The Skagway enchantress is a figure in stone
high up on the mountain side resembling a
woman. Her flowing garments resemble those
of a stylish Parisian gown. The Indians for-
merly crossed the mountains at this point, Chil-
kat Pass, but this witch long ago enchanted the
trail, so that it meant death to follow it. The
Indians now turn aside here and follow the
White Pass.

90 A Pacific Coast Vacation

High above the enchantress's head a bear,
whose head is plainly visible, stands guard over
her.

If you look long enough on a moonlight
night you can see the Enchantress move, but
she cannot leave the mountain. She cannot
come down, yet Chilkat Pass remains en-
chanted.

MU1R GLACIER (SECTION OF)

CHAPTER VII

MUIR GLACIER

THE sun shone bright and warm, but a cold
wave swept over the glacier. It was the beau-
tiful Muir glacier.

We left the steamer in a little boat and were
rowed to the shore, landing on the sandy beach.
High on the sand lay an Indian canoe, a dug-
out. Near by a party of Indians wrapped in
their scarlet blankets squatted on the sand.
They had come to meet the steamer and sell
their toys, baskets and slippers.

A little black eyed boy had a half dozen young
seagulls, in a basket, great awkward squabs.
Their coats were a dirty fuzzy down like that
of a gosling, sprinkled over with black dots.
Their big hungry mouths and frowsy coats
gave no hint of the beautiful birds they would
be when they grew up.

When I paused to look at the birds their
owner regarded me with interest as he sat with
the basket hugged to his breast. Then the
91

92 A Pacific Coast Vacation

young merchant held one up for my inspection,
with the remark, " hees nice bird/'

" Yes," said I, " hees very nice." I had no
thought of buying a seagull. What would I do
with it? Then I remembered a little invalid
boy whom I thought might be pleased with a
pet seagull.

" How much you give? " inquired my little
Indian boy.

" How much will you take? "

" Two bits."

So, I paid down my two bits and picked up
my baby seagull. Then my little merchant
spoke up, " Him want basket? "

" Yes," I said, " I think that I want a bas-
ket."

The basket was paid for and my enterprising
little Indian tucked the baby gull in with a wisp
of sea weed and handed him to me with the re-
mark, " Him all right now."

How that gull did squawk when he found
himself all alone in a big basket. What cared
he that I had purchased for him the prettiest
basket on the beach ? He wanted his brothers.
When we arrived on the deck of the steamer
I hurried my gull down to the steward and
gained admission for him to the cook's depart-

Muir Glacier 95

never to be forgotten. Avalanches and great
blocks of crumbling ice are continually falling
with a crash and roar into the sea, while spray
dashes high and great waves roll along the wall
of the glacier, washing the blocks of floating ice
upon the sandy beach on either side of the great
ice-wall. The great buttresses on either side
as they rise from the sea are solid white, veined
and streaked with mud and rocks, but farther
in near the middle of the wall the color changes
to turquoise and sapphire blues, blended with
the changeable greens of the sea.

The upper strata of a glacier moves faster
than the lower and is constantly being pushed
forward, producing a perpendicular and at
times projecting front. A piece of the project-
ing front breaks off and falls with a heavy
splash into the water, then up it comes almost
white. Now a piece breaks from the lower and
older strata and comes up a dazzling green.
Again a deafening roar as of artillery and a
huge piece of ice splits off from top to bottom of
the sea wall and goes plunging and raving like
a great lion to the bottom of the sea, then up it
comes slowly, a berg of dazzling rainbow hues.
Such a one, as big as all the business houses in a
village, floated toward the beach and the out-

96 A Pacific Coast Vacation

going tide left it stranded there. We ate a
piece of it, ice thousands of years old, and drank
water from a cup or pocket in its side.

The beach is strewn with rock, pebbles and
bowlders carved by the icy hand of the glacier.
Along the beach near the glacier, just above
high tide, in the rocks and sand grow lagoon
grass, laurel and beautiful clarkias. These bril-
liant purple flowers are named for Prof. Clarke,
who first studied and classified them. They
are sweet scented and belong to the evening
primrose family.

The Tlingit Indians believe that mountains
were once living creatures and that the glaciers
are their children. These parents hold them in
their arms, dip their feet into the sea, then cover
them with snow in the winter and scatter rocks
and sand over them in summer. These In-
dians dread the cold and always speak tl-e name
Sith, the ice god, in a whisper. They
have no fear of a hades such as ours. To them
hell is a place of everlasting cold. The chill of
the ice god's breath is death. He freezes rivers
into glaciers and when angry heaves down the
bergs and crushes canoes. When summer
comes the ice spirit sleeps, but the Indians speak

Muir Glacier 93

ment, where he was cared for the remainder
of the voyage.

It is something of a novelty to be seated at
the base of a glacier in July. From the Chil-
koot to the source of the Yukon river is only
thirty-five miles, but the intervening mountain
chain is several thousand feet high and bears
numerous glaciers on its seaward side. Forty
miles west of Lynn canal and separated from it
by a low range of mountains is Glacier bay, and
at the head of one of its inlets is the far-famed
Muir glacier. It is one of the many fields of
ice which stellates from a center fifteen miles
back of the Muir front and covers the valley of
the mountains between the Pacific and the
headwaters of the Yukon river. Nine glaciers
now discharge icebergs into the bay. All of
these glaciers have receded from one to four
miles in the past twenty years. Kate Field
says, " In Switzerland a glacier is a vast bed of
dirty air-holed ice that has fastened itself like
a cold porous plaster to the Alps. In Alaska
a glacier is a wonderful torrent that seems to
have been frozen when about to plunge into the
sea." There they lay, almost free from de-
bris, clear and gleaming in the cold sunshine of
Alaska. The most beautiful of them all is the

94 A Pacific Coast Vacation

Muir glacier. It is named in honor of John
Muir, who visited Alaska in company with Mr.
Young, the Presbyterian missionary, in 1879,
and discovered it. This glacier extends straight
across the fiord, presenting at tide water a per-
pendicular wall two hundred to four hundred
feet above and seven hundred and fifty feet be-
low the surface, making a solid wall of ice a
thousand feet high and three miles wide.

I cannot do better than to give Prof. Muir's
own description of this wonderful mer de glace:
"The front and brow of the glacier were dashed
and sculptured into a maze of yawning chasms,
ravines, canons, crevasses, and a bewildering
chaos of architectural forms, beautiful beyond
description, and so bewildering in their beauty
as to almost make the spectator believe he is
reveling in a dream. There were great clusters
of glistening spires, gables, obelisks, monoliths,
and castles, standing out boldly against the sky,
with bastion and mural surmounted by fretted
cornice and every interstice and chasm reflect-
ing a sheen of scintillating light and deep blue
shadow, making a combination of color, daz-
zling, startling and enchanting."

This is nature's iceberg factory. The " calv-
ing " of a berg is a wonderful sight and one

GREEK CHURCH, KILLISNOO.

Muir Glacier 97

in whispers and never touch the icebergs with
their canoe paddles for fear of awaking him.

Once upon a time glaciers plowed over Illi-
nois. Manitoba and Hudson Bay were then
great snow and ice fields, down from which
swept the glaciers over the United States south
to the Ohio river. Great rocks and bowlders
were carried along and deposited here and there
on the broad prairies. Many of these rocks and
bowlders may still be seen in central Illinois,
still bearing the marks of the glacial slide.

An odd old character in our neighborhood
used to tell us children that those big flattened
bowlders were left there for the good people to
stand on when the world should be burned up.
" Would they get hot ? " we asked. " Oh, how
could they when they had lain years in the
heart of a glacier? " To all of our questions
as to how he knew he always turned a deaf
ear.

Our sailors rowed out and with ropes cap-
tured an iceberg which they said would weigh
five tons and with rope and tackle hauled it
aboard and put it down in the hold. Then they
captured a second one not quite so large and
after it was safely stored away we weighed an-

98 A Pacific Coast Vacation

chor and steamed out of the beautiful bay,
afloat with jcebergs, many of them being larger
above water than our ship. But one disap-
pointment met me, not a polar bear was in sight.

A nunatak is an area of fertile land sur-
rounded by ice. One of the finest on the Alas-
kan coast is Blossom island. It is quite a large
tract of rich land covered with forest and
brilliant flowers.

When Mr. Young (before mentioned) was
missionary to the Hooniah Indians they ap-
pealed to him to pray to God to keep the gla-
ciers from cutting down the trees on the bays
putting into Cross sound. They said their medi-
cine man had advised them to offer as a sacri-
fice two of their slaves to the ice god, but this
they had done without any effect. They were
greatly disappointed when Mr. Young told
them that he could do nothing to prevent the
glaciers destroying their forests.

Passing Cross strait we go down Chatham
strait. Our next stop is Killisnoo, a small
fishing hamlet on Admiralty island. The
largest cod liver oil factory in the world is lo-
cated here. The Northwest Trading Company
established a fishing post here in 1880. Chat-
ham strait is full of cod. The fish are arti-

KITCHNATTI.

Muir Glacier

99

ficially dried. The natives receive two cents
apiece for a five-pound fish. Many fish are
packed in salt. Our steamer took on many
hundred pounds of dried and packed fish. Cod
liver oil is made in the factory. Each barrel
of fish when pressed yields three quarts of oil
valued at twenty-five cents to thirty-five cents
per gallon. The refuse of fifty barrels of fish
when dried and powdered yields one ton of
guano worth thirty dollars. This is shipped to
the fruit ranches of California and the sugar
plantations of the Hawaiian islands. Great
vats of oil stand in rows under the shed of the
factory.

There is a little fish here called the candle
fish. It is almost all oil. For a light the na-
tives impale this fish on a stick and light the
fish. It burns with a sizzle and sputter but
makes a good light.

This is a beautiful island. The gardens are
now at their best. Everything grows luxuri-
antly. Fine strawberries, currants and goose-
berries are grown. Beds of royal purple and
golden pansies in dewy splendor adorn the
yards and gardens, great broad faced beauties
measuring from two to two and a half inches
across.

ioo A Pacific Coast Vacation

Here we met our first Alaskan mosquito.
He is about the size of our glow flies. His bite
is something to remember. It leaves a minia-
ture snow capped mountain on your face.

The Indians say that once upon a time, many
thousand of snows ago, he was a giant spider,
but a wicked manitou tossed him into the fire
one day where he shriveled up to his present
size. The bad manitou thought him dead
but when the fire burned low he escaped and
flew away with a live coal in his mouth which
he carries to this day. Since he could not be
revenged on the manitou he takes his vengeance
out on man.

Arachne, fair mortal, at Minerva's fateful
touch shrank and shriveled into a spider.

The student of Indian myths will be im-
pressed before he carries his researches very
far, with the likeness of many of these legends
to the mythologies of the old world.

These Indians, the Kootznahoos, claim to
have come from over the seas. They deny any
relation with the Tlingits. They were the first
Indians to distill Hoochinoo, which carries more
fight and warwhoop to the drop than any other
liquor known. It is made from a mash of yeast
and molasses, thickened with a little flour.

Muir Glacier 101

They were great fighters and murdered the
traders as soon as the Russians left. In 1869
Commander Mead shelled the village and took
Kitchnatti prisoner. He was taken to Mare
Island, California, and confined for a year.
The tribe now numbers only five hundred
souls. They are a peaceable people and
follow fishing for a livelihood. Many of
them are employed in the fish factory on the
island. Kitchnatti is still the recognized
chief, and is very proud of his position.
He meets all the steamers coming in and
is delighted to meet the officers of the vessels,
all of whom are kind to him. He is quite vain
in his dress, wearing a silk hat, long coat, black
pantaloons and slippers. He also sports a cane,
which is a sheathed sword. He claims descent
from ancestry as old as " yonder granite moun-
tain " which stands across the strait. His state
dress, consists of a crown made of goat horns
and a tunic made of red felt trimmed with fur.
Over his door he has posted his escutcheon,
which some one has translated for him into
English. It reads, " By the governor's permis-
sion and the company's commission I am made
the Grand Tyhee of this entire illabee."

On a green slope stands a Greek church, es-

CHAPTER VIII

SITKA

SITKA is beautifully located at the foot of the
mountains and commands a fine view seaward.
The streets are not regularly laid out. Every-
one appears to have chosen the site that pleased
him best, regardless of his neighbors. Many of
the buildings are old. At every turn one is
made aware of Russian architecture. Several
blocks from the wharf and directly in the mid-
dle of the street stands the Russian orthodox
church of St. Michaels. The interior is richly
decorated. Many rich paintings adorn the
walls. A handsome brass chandelier hangs
from the ceiling. Massive brass candlesticks
stand on either side of the door. The interior
is finished in white and gold, and the inner
sanctuary where women may not enter is sepa-
rated from the church proper by fine bronze
doors.

The Sitka Mission and Industrial School was
established by the Presbyterian board in 1878.
103

104 A Pacific Coast Vacation

There are now enrolled sixty-four boys and
forty-six girls. School continues nine months
of the year. The boys and girls occupy sepa-
rate buildings. The forenoon the pupils spend
in the school rooms and the afternoons the girls
spend in the sewing room and the boys in the
shops. The superintendent called a bright boy
about twelve years of age and asked him if he
could show me about the grounds and through
the workshops while he conducted a larger
party in a different direction. " Yes sir/' and
with a touch of his cap to me, led the way to the
carpenter shop. Two young men busy at work
at a long bench touched their caps and a " Good
afternoon, madam/5 greeted me. " Yes madam,
I am a carpenter/' proudly replied one of the
young men to my question. He was about
eighteen years old, while his companion was
only sixteen. In this shop the pupils make ta-
bles, chairs and all sorts of furniture. I was
next conducted to the tin shop, where besides
pots and pans, stoves are made out of sheet iron
and scraps of any old thing that is left over.
All of the stoves in the school buildings are
made in this \vay. My young Indian guide
next conducted me to the shoe shop.

The schools are having vacation now, so the

Sitka 105

shops are not running a full number of pupils.
The conductor and two pupils were at work,
the former on fine shoes and the latter on heavy
Klondike boots. Each boy has his own cob-
bler's bench and a full set of tools. A third
boy was sauntering about the room making
himself familiar with his surroundings. The
conductor of the shop told me that this lad had
chosen the shoe maker's trade and was to be-
gin work on the following morning.

The boys all greeted me with a smile
of welcome when I entered and bade me
good-by when I departed. My guide said
that the paint shop was closed, but he ex-
plained to me the object of the shop and
the work done there. When I asked him
if he had chosen his trade he politely ex-
plained that he had only been in the school a
year and that he had not decided what he would
like. The pupils enter for five years, the par-
ents or guardian signing a contract to that, ef-
fect. My guide conducted me to the gate,
where I thanked him for his kindness. He
gracefully touched his cap and said : " Good-by
madam, I was glad to show you about."

All of the dormitories, play rooms and
school rooms are models of neatness. In the

106 A Pacific Coast Vacation

girls' building the bread was just being taken
out of the bake oven. Thirty loaves was the
day's baking. The boys make the bread and
put it to rise. The girls mould it out and bake
it. The Indians are very proud of the school
and come of their own accord seeking admis-
sion for their children. This school is making
these Indians self-supporting and consequently
prosperous. One sees many bright faces among
them and the younger people are happy and
contented, with nothing in their dress or man-
ner to distinguish them from young white
Americans of the same age. In an old block-
house located on a rocky prominence overlook-
ing the sea some of the boys of the school spend
the evening hours in band practice. They,
played until eleven o'clock on the parade
ground without a light, reading their music by
twilight. The selections were choice and well
rendered. They played " Star Spangled Ban-
ner " as an opening piece. Sitka is rightfully
proud of her Indian band. The Indian is
given his chance in this land of the midnight
sun and he is making the most of his opportu-
nities.

Opposite the Mission on the bank of the In-
dian River is a large square rock called the

BLOCKHOUSE ON BANK OF INDIAN RIVER, SITKA, ALASKA.

Sitka 107

Blarney-stone, which dowers the kisser with a
magic tongue, but never a four leafed shamrock
in all the merry dell with which to weave a
magic spell.

The Sitkans, like all native races have a
mythical legend as to their origin.

Two brothers, twins, lived in paradise. One
of them ate a sea cucumber. It was the
one forbidden fruit. The paradise became a
wilderness. The brothers were starving when a
band of roving Stickines came that way one day
and pitying them left them wives to care for
them.

From one of these pairs sprang all the Kak-
satti, the Crow clan. From the other de-
scended all the Kokwantons, the Wolf clan.

The legends of these Indians as well as all
other tribes in this country, contain a full ac-
count of the landing of Columbus. The news
was carried overland from post to post and tribe
to tribe by runners. The history of the tribe
at Sitka runs back five hundred years. Beyond
that period they have no record and frankly
say that they have no authentic account of their
origin.

Their stature, their industry, their faith in
the shamin, their belief in transmigration of

io8 A Pacific Coast Vacation

souls, all point to Asiatic origin. Their word
for water is agua, much like the Latin aqua.

The Mission and Training schools have
transformed these savages, whose ancestors
murdered the intrepid Muscovites, into frontier
fishermen, boatmen and loggers.

An Indian never willingly consents to have
his photograph taken, because, when you have
a picture of him, he firmly believes that you have
power over his soul. The educated Indian,
however, is fearless of the camera.

The Kletwantans and the Klukwahuttes, two
branches of the Frog clan, are at variance over
the erection of a totem pole and have gone into
court to settle the matter. The Klukwahuttes
are the true aristocrats of Indian society in
Sitka. The Kletwantons are the wealthy mem-
bers of the real Indian four hundred, but having
made their money in fish and oil, are considered
upstarts by their more aristocratic brothers.
The Kletwantons decided to build a new home
for the chief and to set up an elaborately carved
and decorated totem pole. The eyes of the frog
which was to surmount this wonderful pole
were to be twenty-dollar gold pieces. A grand
potlatch was to be held when the pole was ready
to set up. All of the Indians up and down the

Sitka 109

coast, from Juneau, Killisnoo, Skagway, Ft.
Wrangel and Bella Bellas, were invited, but the
aristocratic Klukwahuttes were left out. Did
they sit down and quietly ignore this insult?
No indeed. They told their wealthy brothers
in true American style what they thought of
such conduct, and the matter would, no doubt,
have been dropped here had not the wealthy
fish oil makers denied that the Klukwahut-
tes belonged to the Frog clan at all. Upon
this things grew so warm that the missionary
appealed to the district attorney to aid him in
making the Indians keep the peace. Then the
disgusted Klukwahuttes went to him asking for
an injunction to keep the pretended Frogs from
holding the potlatch and setting up the pole.
He replied to them that he would take the case
upon them paying him a retainer of five hun-
dred dollars, feeling sure that would end the
matter, well knowing that they could not raise
the money. Petitioned again he reduced his
fee to two hundred 'and fifty dollars, feeling
quite sure that they could not raise even that
amount. But he reckoned without his host. In
less than two hours the leading men of the
Klukwahuttes filed into his office, carrying goat
skin bags and pouches filled with money and

1 1 o A Pacific Coast Vacation

counted out the two hundred and fifty dol-
lars in small coins, no coin being larger than
a fifty-cent piece. The attorney was obliged
to keep his word and take the case. The in-
junction was issued restraining the oil makers
from building the house and setting up the
totem pole. The potlatch, however, was held.

When the Juneau Indians arrived in their
canoes off the shore the chief stood up and
chanted their traditions to prove that they be-
longed to the Frog clan and were rightfully in-
vited. When he had finished the leaders of the
Klukwahuttes, who were standing on the beach,
recited their traditions to prove that they and
not the Kletwantans were the true Frogs. The
Klukwahuttes, however, made no disturbance
during the feast. Later the Kletwantans em-
ployed a young Boston lawyer who was stop-
ping at Sitka and sued the Klukwahuttes for
damages. Not wishing to be outdone by the ar-
istocratic Klukwahuttes, they at once paid their
lawyer a retainer of two hundred and fifty dol-
lars. There the case rests. The lawyers are
trying to settle it out of court.

On an eminence which commands a fine view
of the harbor and the town, stood the Baranhoff
castle, which was burned a few years ago. It

Sitka 1 1 1

did not in the least resemble a castle. The pic-
ture makes it look like an old country inn. The
ruins are still visible and the two flights of steps
leading to it still exist. Around this historic
ground cluster the scenes and incidents of the
past century. The castle, like the island on
which it stood, took its name from the Russian
governor, Baranhoff, who in the early part of
the century ruled the people with an iron hand,
beginning with the knout and ending with the
ax.

Not one of the intrepid Muscovites who
landed here in 1741 were left to tell the tale of
their capture and execution by the native Sit-
kans. In 1800 another party arrived and placed
themselves under the protection of the Arch-
angel Gabriel instead of trusting to the power
of gunpowder and stockades. They too were
massacred and their homes destroyed by fire.
Baranhoff was at once sent out by the Russian
government. He erected the castle and stock-
ade, withdrew the town from the protection of
Gabriel and placed it under the protection of the
Archangel Michael.

This old castle was once the home of nobility
and the scene of grand festivities. Here
princes and princesses of the blood royal ate

112 A Pacific Coast Vacation

their caviare, quaffed their vodka and meas-
ured a minuet. It was in this old castle that
Lady Franklin spent three weeks twenty-five
years ago when in search of her husband, Sir
John. It was here that W. H. Seward spent
several days when on a trip to Alaska after its
purchase from Russia, through the sagacity of
himself and Charles Sumner. At one of the
windows sat the beautiful Princess Maksoutoff
weeping bitter tears as the Russian flag
was lowered for the last time. On the
1 8th of October, 1867, three United States
warships lay at anchor in the bay. They
were the Ossipee, Resaca and James-
town, commanded by Captains Emmons,
Bradford and McDougal. Each vessel was
dressed in the national colors, while the Russian
soldiers, citizens and Indians assembled upon
the open space at the foot of the castle carrying
aloft the eagle of the czar of all the Russias.
At a given signal the American navy fired a
salute in honor of the Russian flag, which was
lowered from the staff on the castle. After a
national salute from the Russian garrison in
honor of our flag, the stars and stripes were
hoisted to the top of the old flag staff.

The Russian parade ground has been con-

RAPIDS, INDIAN RIVER, SITKA.

UNIVERSITY

OF

Sitka 1 1 3

verted into a base ball ground, where Indian
and white teams contest for honors.

The native races of Alaska are slowly dying
out. The bright light of civilization is always
the death doom of savagism.

The most beautiful natural park in the world
lies just above Sitka, on the banks of the Indian
River, which rises in the valley between the
mountains and winding down, empties into the
Sea.

Here are the greenest of pines, cedars and
firs. The grasses and mosses are the brilliant
green of the tropics. A neat suspension foot
bridge swings clear of the water from buttress
to buttress. The shallow, murmuring, sparkling
water bathes the brown roots of shrubs and
trees. Great cedars lie prostrate, covered with
short green moss. Giant firs are draped with a
delicate sea green moss, which hangs in festoons
and pendants from branch, limb and trunk. The
pine tops sigh softly the music of the seas.

Sunny banks are yellow with the familiar
cinquefoil, the blossoms of which are five
or six times as large as they are at home. In
open glades the ground is white with Cornells,
and tiny dogwood shrub growing from two
to five inches high. The wild purple geranium

ii4 A Pacific Coa<t Vacation

brightens sunny glades, while the mountain
spiraea, the most beautiful of all spiraeas, bends
and sways in the breeze.

Thickets of salmon berry and wonderful
mazes of strange ferns meet one at every turn.
One of the handsomest bushes in the park is the
magnificent Devil's Club. There are great
thickets of them twenty feet high casting an en-
ticing but dangerous shade. The dainty green
leaves, as large as dinner plates, rear their heads
aloft, umbrella-like. The stems, limbs, and
trunk are covered with thousands of tiny pois-
onous prickles, which work deep into the flesh,
making ugly sores.

Down on the beach are the graves of Lisian-
sky's men, who were killed by ambuscaded In-
dians while taking water for their ship, in 1804.

Friday evening we weighed anchor and
steamed out of the harbor. The beautiful bay,
with its beautiful islands, slowly receded from
view and we bade farewell to the historic old
town of Sitka.

Hamerton, in his charming work on Land-
scape, says : " There are, I believe, four new ex-
periences for which no description however ade-
quately prepares us, the first sight of the sea,
the first journey in the desert, the sight of flow-

Sitka 1 1 5

ing molten lava, and a walk on a great glacier.
We feel in each case that the strange thing is
pure nature, as much nature as a familiar
English moor, yet so extraordinary that we
might be in another planet."

I would add a fifth, sunset at sea. Earth
holds nothing more fair, nothing more beautiful
than sunshine.

A little while ago the sky was blue, flaked
with fleecy white clouds, the snows on the coast
range lay sparkling like diamonds in the sun,
the forest lay dark and green on the mountain-
side, the sea gray and blue by turns ; but now a
change comes over nature's moods, the clouds
glow, the snows take on brilliant hues, the dark
old forest grows darker, the sea shimmers and
sparkles, a flaming molten mass.

The imperial sunset throws its red flame afar,
'till the land, the sea, the mountains, the sky,
the very air it incarnadines in one grand flame
of scarlet. Long, long will the beholder remem-
ber that glorious sunset at Sitka.

CHAPTER IX

ALASKA

A FRIEND of the writer who owns mines at
Cook's Inlet thus describes his voyage north
along the coast to Unalaska:

We were now aboard the Excelsior. About
noon the next day we put out to sea and saw no
more island passages such as we had seen while
aboard the Queen.

Our first stop was at Yakutat, an Indian vil-
lage on the Yakutat Bay. This bay is only an
indentation of the coast, curving inward for
about twenty miles. The whole force of the
Pacific sweeps into it. Landing is both diffi-
cult and dangerous. In the bay are always many
icebergs from the glaciers at its head.

Great excitement prevailed here in 1880
when gold was discovered in the black sand
beaches. The rotary hand amalgamators were
used and as much as forty dollars per day to
the man was often realized. The miners, how-
ever, had reckoned without their host; the

116

Alaska 117

Yakutat chief, who suddenly developed finan-
cial ability worthy of his white brother, ex-
acted licenses and royalties from the miners.

This black sand mine was not yet exhausted
when a tidal wave heaped the coast with fish.
These decayed in the hot sun and the oil soaked
down into the sand. The mercury would not
work and the miners moved to a new beach, but
again a tidal wave ruined the mines by washing
all the black sand out to sea. Yakutat was then
deserted by the miners. The Indian women of
this village are the finest basket weavers in
Alaska.

Soon after leaving Yakutat we sighted Mt.
St. Elias and the Malispania glacier. The In-
dians call it Bolshoi Shopka — great one. This
snow-clad mountain, nearly four miles high,
beautiful as Valaskjalf, the silver roofed man-
sion of Odin, is a most magnificent sight. Such
grandeur, such solidity, such poetry of color, —
the white peak kisses the blue heaven, — such
solitude. Like the golden few of earth's great
ones, it stands alone, isolated by its very great-
ness.

The Malispania glacier which flows down
from a great neve field in the mountains, is said
to be the largest glacier in the world. It is

1 1 8 A Pacific Coast Vacation

nearly one hundred miles long and thirty-five
miles wide where it pours into the sea, and rises
four hundred and fifty feet above tide water.

Orca, on the shore of Prince William's
Sound, lies snuggled up under the rugged cliffs,
which rise sheer thousands of feet high. From
the woods beyond a noisy river goes leaping
down the rocks to the sea, where its power is
chained to run the machinery of a cannery. That
other Orca was a powerful sea dragon, espe-
cially fond of a seal diet, but this Orca preys
only on the salmon.

Our next stop was at Valdes, where two years
ago two thousand miners started for Copper
River, to prospect for gold, but they were
doomed to disappointment, as yet no gold has
been discovered on this river. Many and sad
are the tales of hardships endured by these
miners. Some worked their way up the Copper
River and down Tanana River to the Yukon,
but by far the greater number returned to Val-
des destitute. Many of the miners lost their
lives on the Valdes' glacier. In going to Cop-
per River they had to travel eighteen miles
across this treacherous glacier. Nine men lost
their lives here last winter.

WHERE WHALES AND PORPOISES POKE THEIR NOSES UP
THROUGH THE BRINE.

Alaska 119

At Valdes is located a government expedition
under the command of Captain Ambercrombie.
The object of this expedition is to study the
topography of the country and to make surveys.
The government is doing much to aid stranded
miners to reach Seattle. For thirty days' work
they are paid five dollars and given a free pas-
sage to that city.

Prince William Sound is a fine body of water.
It is almost surrounded by land. Abrupt moun-
tains rise seemingly out of the sea. It is deeply
indented by fiords and inlets running back from
ten to twenty-five miles. On the south it is
protected by mountainous islands. In coming
out of this sound we passed around Mummy
Point, into the ocean. Presently we came to
the Seal Rocks. They were alive with seals.
When the engineer blew the whistle they went
plunging into the sea, making a great splash.
Whales and porpoises bob their noses up
through the brine — descendants, no doubt, of
that gallant crew of Tyrrhenian mariners
changed by angry Bacchus to dolphins in that
dusky old time when the gods held sway over
nature's forces.

From here to Cook's Inlet we had rough sail-

I2O A Pacific Coast Vacation

ing. Neptune was out on a lark. We realized
fully that he was king of the sea and that we
were his timid subjects.

The crowning glory of Alaska's natural at-
tractions is Cook's Inlet. Sheltered by a great
mountain wall on the west, its shores enjoy de-
lightful summer weather. Only the pen of a
Milton or the matchless brush of a Turner
could paint this fair empire of earth, sea and
air. Glacier after glacier, frozen to the cold
breast of the mountains, lay glistening in the
sunshine. The finest waterfalls in Alaska leap
from rugged cliffs and go singing to the sea.

A grand panorama of snowy peaks, smoking
volcanoes, forested slopes, grassy glades bright
with flowers and fertile valleys, lend enchant-
ment to this wild Arcadia of the North. Goethe
truly says : " Him whom the gods true art
would teach, they send out into the mighty
world."

Moose graze in the open glades, mountain
goat and sheep leap from cliff to rock and away.
Extensive level plateaus line both shores of the
inlet, which will make fine grazing country some
day in the near future. The grass grows luxur-
iantly and in many places reaches a height of
six feet. We traveled up the inlet seventy

Alaska 1 2 1

miles to a branch of the inlet known as the
Turnagain Arm, which is from five to eight
miles wide and enclosed by high mountains.
These mountains are covered with timber at the
base. Tall grass covers the mountain side to
the height of three thousand feet, sweet grass
for all the flocks of some future Pan.

We landed at Sunrise, which is the largest
city on the inlet. It has a population of one
hundred and fifty, mostly miners. Hope, twelve
miles away, has a population of seventy-five
miners. Fine vegetables grow here. A store-
keeper has a small garden. His potatoes are
as fine as any grown in the states, some weigh-
ing one and one-half pounds. He has cabbages
weighing seven pounds, and turnips weighing
eleven pounds. Beets, peas and other vegeta-
bles are as fine as grown anywhere. People
who have lived here during the winters say that
the temperature rarely falls twenty degrees be-
low zero, and that the winters are dry and with-
out blizzards.

Moose, mountain goat and wild sheep fur-
nish the towns and camps with meat, which is
usually bought from the Indians, who are good
hunters, but very superstitious. They are afraid
of a giant who, Odin like, rides from mountain

122 A Pacific Coast Vacation

to mountain on the wind, killing every Indian
whom he finds traveling alone. White men
don't count, so if you wish to employ a guide
to accompany you on a hunting expedition you
must also employ a brother Indian to protect
him, or he " no go/'

Farther south along the coast a black dwarf
haunts the mountains, making life miserable
for lone Indians. His arrows, like the magical
spear of Odin, never miss their mark.

In the mountains north and west of the inlet
a giant floats his birch canoe on the wind, from
peak to peak, seeking lone Indians, whom he
slays with the canoe paddles. This wonderful
canoe, like that good ship of Frey, always gets
a fair wind, no matter for what port its oars-
man is bound.

This portion of the inlet, Turnagain Arm, is
a treacherous bit of water. The highest tides
rise fifty feet. Then there is the boer, which
runs up just as the tide comes in, rising eighteen
to twenty feet perpendicularly.

No boat can live in it. The tide usually comes
in three great waves, one right after the other.
The water is thick with mud, ground up by the
glaciers at the head of the Arm and brought
down by the streams.

Alaska 123

There will be some good placer mines in
Cook's Inlet when the country is properly
opened, but it has hardly been prospected
as yet, owing to the difficulty in sinking shafts
to bed rock on account of the water coming in
so rapidly. It is necessary to go through bed
rock to the glacier channels below for the main
deposits of gold.

By timbering the shafts the water may be
kept out. The soil and gravel taken out of a
shaft which has just been sunk averages only
twenty-five cents per cubic yard, but the owners
intend to go through the rock to the channels
below, where they expect to strike a rich vein,
make their fortunes and return to civilization.

There is usually a light freeze about the mid-
dle of September, after which the weather is
fine until the last of November.

The king of volcanoes in this region is
Ilamna. Steam and smoke issue from two
craters at the summit of the snow-clad moun-
tain. During an eruption this giant shakes the
earth to its very center.

This wonderful estuary was discovered by
Captain Cook, on the natal day of Princess
Elizabeth, May 21, 17/8. He took possession
in the name of her majesty, and buried his

1 24 A Pacific Coast Vacation

records in a bottle at Possession Point. Van-
couver searched for these records in vain.

Tramways, stone piers and decaying build-
ings speak in unmistakable language of busy
scenes during Russian occupation.

Five hundred miles west of Sitka, on the
shore of Kadiak, one of the emerald isles of the
Alaskan coast, is St. Paul, the first capital of
Alaska, and the center of the fur trade estab-
lished by Shelikoff and Baranhoff.

The natives say that many summers ago the
Kadiak Islands were separated from the main-
land by a very narrow channel. One day a big
otter attempting to swim through was caught
fast. He struggled until he widened the Sheli-
koff Strait, when he swam triumphantly
through. A bad Indian and his dog sent adrift
on a big stone turned into the largest Kadiak,
on the shore of which St. Paul is located. The
Kadiakers are descended from the daughter of
a great chief of the north, who, with her hus-
band and dogs, was banished from her father's
lodge.

The forest on these islands consists of a few
scattered groves. The grass, shrubs and mosses
bathed in a perpetual fog are so brilliantly green
as to dazzle the eye.

Alaska 125

The dug-out canoe disappears here and boats
of sea lion and walrus skins stretched over
frames of drift wood lightly skim the blue
waters of the cold sea.

As we steam along through sunshine and fog,
past glaciers, mountains and fiords, " so wide
the loneliness, so lucid the air," we are reminded
that the Ancient Mariner sailed the blue Pacific.
Now the sun drops into the sea, lighting it up
with a luminous glow. With a tremor and a
sparkle the purple waves glimmer red, now
shadow to a violet hue, and now to a crimson
blue.

" Tries one, tries all, and will not stay
But flits from opal hue to hue."

The volcanoes of Alaska! What a grand,
what a wonderful panorama, as if you had rub-
bed Aladdin's lamp. Expectation stood in awe
when this giant upheaval was in progress. En-
wrapped always in the mellow haze of white
smoke and Hue atmosphere, the cold clouds
kissing their white brows, these sentinels old,
like Wordsworth mountain, "look familiar with
forgotten years."

.The prince of them all, Shishaldin, rises nine
thousand feet, trailing his white robes in the
blue sea.

i 26 A Pacific Coast Vacation

The seventy islands of the Aleutian chain lie
along the coast for thousands of miles. These
islands are treeless, but green with Arctic
grasses and mosses. •

At Unalaska the Russians have a nicely built
church. These Greek churches have no pews,
the congregation standing and kneeling during
the service. The priest in charge of this church
speaks no English. These churches all pay an
annual tribute to the patriarch in Moscow. This
is all un-American. The Mary Lee Home, a
Methodist mission, has a small school here.

The Aleuts, a kind, gentle people, suffered
much at the hands of their Russian masters in
the past. The Aleuts living in sod huts are
the Crofters of America.

The fine flower of the fauna of Alaska is
found in the valley of the Koyukuk River. Here
tusks and bones of mastodons are found im-
bedded in the sand banks and gravel bars.

Since the discovery of gold in Alaska the In-
dians have saved many lives. Born and reared
amidst these wild surroundings, where winter
white and hoary stands ever at the gate of the
North, wagging his shaggy beard, they have
partaken of the very nature of their own rugged
mountains. The long Arctic nights and the in-

Alaska 1 27

tense cold have given these people hearts of steel
and muscles of iron.

Are you ill ? Are you starving ? No moun-
tain is too high, no snow too deep, but one of
these heroes will climb the one or plunge un-
dauntedly through the other to bring you suc-
cor.

In the chilly Arctic sea there lies a mysterious
island, the home of the ice goblin, who kicked
it loose from, no one knows where, so the leg-
end runs, and towed it to its present location.

Its mountains are the highest, its gorges the
deepest, and its fields and fiords the grandest in
the world.

It was a most magnificent island before the
goblin stole it and dragged it away into the
great ice fields of the North. It was clothed
in rich verdure. Birds sang, flowers bloomed,
and gay butterflies hovered over them.

This was not at all to the goblin's taste, so
he threw a sheet of ice over mountain, field and
fiord. In his ice castle on the summit of the
loftiest peak reigns the great ice goblin, send-
ing out storms over sea and land, and pouring
ice, snow and glaciers down over the island to
his heart's content.

In the Arctic region a dark cloud called the

ia8 A Pacific Coast Vacation

" loom of the water " overhangs where ever
there is clear water.

The Arctic sea! The land of the midnight
sun! What a fascinating subject! What an
inexhaustible field for those three happy broth-
ers, the poet, the painter and the scientist ! The
land of jotums, penguins and ice packs. The
land where night kisses morning. The realm
of bright-haired Aurora and sable-robed Niobe.

Returning along the self same route the mind
never tires nor the eye wearies of the matchless
scenery. Like a moving panorama, grand,
austere, majestic, sublime. Here reigns Vidar,
the god of silence.

Magnificent fiords indent the coast. The
dark mountains rise to a vast height, their snow
crowned peaks standing out clear and sharp
against the blue sky.

Glaciers like huge giants clasp the mountains
in their frosty arms, while their tears course
down the mountain's weather-beaten cheek.

Here and there a fleecy white cloud envelopes
the summit of a mountain. A silvery thread
comes creeping out over the rocks, loses itself
in the pine forest on the slopes, emerges and
with a boundless sweep plunges into the ocean.

All this wild scenery from base to peak stands
mirrored in the sea-green water of the fiord.

CHAPTER X

FAREWELL TO SKAGWAY

AT Skagway quite a number of miners came
on board, bound for home. One hears from
them many sad tales of the Klondike. One man
aboard is dying of consumption and scurvy,
contracted in the mining region. A purse is
being made up to enable him to reach his home
in Toronto, Canada. He hopes to live to see his
wife and child. An impromptu entertainment
in the salon netted one hundred and fifty dol-
lars for the sick miner.

Another tale not quite so pathetic is that of
Mike McCarty, of San Francisco. He bought
a claim and paid all the money he possessed for
it. When he went to have the lease recorded
he was told that it was not legal, that the prop-
erty was not his, but still belonged to theQueen.
" Damn the Quane," said Mike, " I bought it
and paid me money for it. The Quane has noth-
ing to do with it at all." Then he was informed
that some one had sold the claim to him under
129

130 A Pacific Coast Vacation

false pretense and besides losing it he would get
three months' imprisonment for insulting the
Queen. " Faith and how could I insult the
Quane when I niver see her?" queried Mike.
" All right/' said the magistrate, " you go up
for three months and the claim still belongs to
the Queen." " Damn the Quane," said Mike,
as he was taken away to his cell. Mr. McCarty
is on his way home, a ragged, penniless but, a
wiser man.

These miners are bringing down a great deal
of gold. One man who has made sixty-five
thousand dollars in mining is taking two chil-
dren to Seattle to be educated.

One lady has her bustle stuffed with paper
money, another her dress skirt interlined with
five and ten dollar bills.

Gold may be converted into paper money in
Dawson City at the rate of fifteen dollars per
ounce. Its actual value runs from sixteen to
eighteen dollars per ounce.

Living is quite high at Dawson, owing to the
long distance over which freight must be car-
ried. Coal oil sells at seven dollars for a five-
gallon can, bread at fifty cents a loaf, beefsteak
at two dollars a pound, candles at one dollar
each. This is an item in household expenses, as
during the winter months it is twilight only

Farewell to Skagway 131

from eleven o'clock in the morning to two
o'clock in the afternoon. Candles are used for
lights in the mines.

There is plenty of gold in Alaska, but one
must go equipped to withstand the winters and
prepared to work his claim properly. Mining
in Colorado and California is not mining in the
Klondike. For various reasons mining in the
Klondike is much more expensive than in either
of the other places. The British mounted po-
lice are very vigilant, so that miners lose but
little by thieving.

We arrived at Juneau at eleven o'clock at
night. The sun having just set it was still
daylight. Nearly the entire population was at
the wharf, eager to learn the news of the outside
world. We repaired to the opera house, where
we attended an impromptu political meeting.
The mayor presided and Judge Delany, judge
of Alaska under Cleveland, set forth in a forci-
ble manner the needs of Alaska. The speaker
said that this rapidly growing child seemed to
be somewhat neglected by legislators, mainly
because Congress does not know her needs.
" First of all," said he, " we want the boundary
line settled. We want every foot of land called
for in our treaty with Russia in 1867. Until

132 A Pacific Coast Vacation

the discovery of gold in the Klondike England
had never questioned her treaty made with
Russia in 1825. But when gold is discovered
up comes England and plants her flags on our
territory. Our government sent out troops and
forced them back to the original line. Now let
Congress settle it once for all. It interferes
with business and until this question is settled
we don't know where we are ' at.' Next we
want better school facilities. In Juneau we
have two hundred and forty children of
school age and room for only forty. This
state of things exists all over Alaska.
If Congress will give us half as much
attention as is bestowed on the seal we promise
to ask no more. We want some sort of govern-
ment. We have no government and are not
represented in Congress. Next we want more
judges and more courts, instead of one judge
and one district as now. We think that Alaska
should be divided into three districts."

Congressmen Warner, Dazill, Payne and
Hull replied in short speeches and the meeting
adjourned just at dawn, one o'clock. The opera
house is lighted with electric lights and heated
with a furnace. It has a parquet, dress circle and

STEAMER QUEEN LEAVING JUNEAU,

Farewell to Skagway 133

boxes, and is a model from an architectural
point of view. The acoustic properties of the
hall are beyond criticism.

Leaving Juneau to carry on the struggle of
leading Alaska to statehood, we board our good
ship, the Queen, weigh anchor, and sail away.

The upper deck is the salon, the reception
hall, the library. Here we leave our steamer
rugs and chairs. Here we come for a better
view of the mountains and the sea. Here we
meet our friends. Here we may take a book
and, snugly ensconced, pass a quiet hour. Many
of us, however, found it difficult to read a single
line or to enjoy our rugs and chairs for long at
a time, for just as your companion has tucked
you all snugly in, exclamations of surprise and
delight from some other part of the vessel lures
you away, as the ship turns her prow this way
and that, now steaming straight ahead, as if she
meant to knock that mountain from its seat,
and now quickly changing her course, giving
us a magnificent view down a fiord.

Everyone is reading " David Harum," and
their comments are quite as interesting as the
book itself.

Sweet Sixteen — " O, I do just love John and

134 A Pacific Coast Vacation

Mary, but that stupid old David is so tire-
some/'

A critic — " Literature, indeed. Where's the
plot? You couldn't find it with a telescope/'

A judge — " Served his good-for-nothing
brother just right/'

Pious looking old gentleman — " Good man,
David, but he lacked religion/'

Business man — " Too soft hearted; ought to
have kicked that idiot Timson out long before
he did/5

An old farmer lays down the book and laughs
until the tears roll down his weather-beaten
cheeks. " Now, there's a man as is a man.
Knows all about farmin' and tradin' horses,
he, he; traded horses myself, he, he, he; best
book ever read, he, --he, he."

The first interesting sight to greet us on our
way south was a group of small rocky islands,
where more than a hundred eagles were fishing.
Out they would fly by twos and threes, seize a
fish in their talons, return to the rocks and pro-
ceed to eat him.

From Dixon's Entrance to Milbank Sound
lie the Alps of America, a double panorama of
unbroken beauty two hundred miles in length.
Green slopes reflected in greener waters. The

ALPS OF AMERICA,

Farewell to Skagway 135

shores rise perpendicularly from a thousand
to fifteen hundred feet, above which snow-clad
mountains rise as high again. Tall trees climb
and cling to these rocky walls like vines and
cascades come gliding out from snowbanks and
go hurrying and singing to the sea, some like
delicate silver threads winding down, others
dashing mountain torrents.

Late in the evening a mist Jotun rose out of
the sea and enveloped us, and the ship lay at
anchor for several hours. The next morning
the sun shone clear and bright. The clouds lay
on the water like a veil of rare old lace flecked
with pearls, diamonds and sapphires, caught up
here and there by unseen hands and wreathed
about the mountains' snowy brows.

Scene after scene of wild beauty greets the
eye at every turn of the vessel's prow. Wild
deer and fawn come down to the water's edge
and stand gazing at our ship. We ran into a
school of whales disporting in the water and
scattered them right and left. Flock after flock
of wild ducks skim the water, to light in yonder
cove. Flock after flock, battalion after battal-
ion of wild geese swing along overhead, led
by an old commodore, giving his commands
with military precision, " Honk, honk," until

136 A Pacific Coast Vacation

the very air quivers with their joyous shouts
and greetings. The cormorant is your true
diver. Down he goes, a ripple, and the water
is smooth again. While you are lost in specula-
tion as to where he will reappear up he comes
in some placid spot away beyond. If you guess
that he will come up at your right he is sure to
appear much further to your left. If you guess
that he will remain under water two minutes
he is likely to remain five. In fact he never
does the thing you expect of him at all, but like
Thoreau's loon on Walden pond, he'll lead you
a merry chase if you board your canoe and at-
tempt to follow him.

CHAPTER XI

WASHINGTON AND OREGON

SEATTLE is now full of people on their way
to Alaska, principally tourists, as the miners are
now all coming down to rest or visit with rela-
tives and to make preparations to return to the
Klondike for the winter. Now that the Yukon
and White Pass railroad is completed over the
mountains to Lake Bennett the trip thus far is
made in about four hours which formerly re-
quired four weeks over a rough, rocky moun-
tain trail. Freight rates are much cheaper
than when the Indians carried the freight over
at twenty-five cents per pound. Living will be
cheaper in the Klondike and more mines will
be worked. Success or failure waits on the
mining industry as well as every other, and the
man who would succeed in the field must study
the business thoroughly. ,

From a scientific point of view Alaska is cer-
tainly a wonderful country. From the point of
development and commerce it gives promise of
137

138 A Pacific Coast Vacation

becoming an important State. The possibilities
in the way of development of its mineral re-
sources and fisheries are incalculable.

Seattle is deeply interested in the boundary
question. This city conducts the bulk of the
northwest trade to Alaska and were England
given a port at Lynn canal, Seattle would feel
it keenly, as would Washington and other
Western States. Congressman Warner says
we have nothing to concede to Great Britain in
the way of territory. That we stand on the
right of possession acquired by the Russian pur-
chase. England is anxious indeed to lay hands
on the Porcupine mining district, which is con-
sidered as rich as the Klondike.

Traveling south from Seattle, we enter the
grazing and fruit-growing district. Cattle
graze on the hill-sides while the fruit farms
occupy a more level tract. The fine cherries,
known as the Rocky Mountain variety, are ripe
now. There are three varieties; the sweet, the
sour and the blood-red, seen in our market. The
currant farms are of equal interest. The cur-
rants too are ripe. Boys and girls are employed
as pickers. They enjoy the work and consider
it great sport. The luscious fruit is placed in
baskets and carried to the manager, who meas-

Washington and Oregon 139

tires it and sets down the amount opposite the
picker's name. The fruit is much larger and
juicier than in the Eastern States. ,

Portland is the center of the hop belt. A hop
field is quite as interesting, from a financial
point of view, as a field of broom-corn. If the
crop is a success it pays and pays well, but if a
failure from blight or worm, it is likely to bank-
rupt the owner. So you see that a hop ranch
is an interesting speculation. The fields them-
selves are beautiful, indeed. The varied shades
of green, from the darker hues of the older
leaves to the delicate sea green of the new ten-
drils as they wreathe themselves about the tall
poles, or twine about the wires which in many
fields run from pole to pole, forming a beautiful
green canopy from end to end of the large fields.
Not the least interesting part of the hop ranches
are the store and dry-houses. The hops are
dried by hot air process, and are then baled and
ready for shipment. King Revelry holds high
carnival in the hop districts when the hops are
ripe. Everyone looks forward to this harvest
with the greatest of pleasure. The invalid, be-
cause he would be healed by the wonderful
medicinal qualities of the hops ; the well because
he would have an outing and be earning good

140 A Pacific Coast Vacation

wages at the same time; the boys and girls, be-
cause it is their annual festival of frolic and
fun; a time of camp-fires, ghost stories and
witch tales. The real old-fashioned kind that
chills your blood and makes you afraid of the
dark and to go to bed lest the goblins get you
" ef you don't watch out/' The pickers camp
in the fields and along the road sides. The hops
are picked and placed in trays. Each picker
may have a tray to himself or an entire family
may use one tray. When the trays are full they
are carried to the warehouse where they are
weighed.

Plank roads abound in Washington. One-
half of the road is laid down in a plank walk,
which is used when the roads are muddy, so
that when the roads dry they are ready to travel
without that wearing-down process which is
so trying to the nerves of both man and beast.

Oregon is the most important state in the
Union from an Indian's point of view, for it
was here that the first man was created. It is
needless to say that he was a red man, and his
Garden of Eden was at the foot of the Cascade
mountains. That was long before the bad
Manitou created the white man.

Portland is a larger city than Seattle. There

Washington and Oregon 141

is more wealth here too. This city is the outlet
for the immense crops of wheat raised in south-
ern Washington, Oregon and Idaho. The fine
peaches, plums, cherries, currants and apples
grown here find their way to eastern markets.
Wood is so plentiful and cheap here that every
man has his wood-pile. (The little coal used
on the Pacific coast comes from Australia.)
The enterprising wood sawyer rigs a small
steam saw mill on a wagon, drives up to your
door and without removing the mill from the
wagon saws your wood while you wait.

An interesting feature of river life in Port-
land is the houseboat, moored to the shore.
Sometimes they are floated miles down the river
to the fishing grounds. Most of them are neat
one-story cottages and nicely painted. Nearly
always there is a tiny veranda where flowers in
pots are blooming.

An aged couple lives in a tiny houseboat,
painted white, which is moored apart from
the others. A veranda runs across the front
of the boat and there are shelves on either
side of the door. They have a fine collection of
geraniums and just now the entire front of
their water home is aglow with the blooms.
Misfortune overtook these people and they

142 A Pacific Coast Vacation

adopted this mode of life because of its cheap-
ness. Another boat was moored under the lea
of the steep bank. Up the side of the bank a
path led to the top, where the children have
built a small pen from twigs and sticks. Inside
the pen are five fat ducks, a pair of bantams and
a pig.

Portland is the third wealthiest city for its
size in the world. Frankfort on the Main takes
first rank and Hartford, Conn., second. The
climate is delightful. In summer the average
temperature is eighty, with always a cool breeze
blowing from the sea or the snow-capped moun-
tains.

The trip up the Columbia river to the dalles is
a continuous panorama of beautiful scenes. On
each side along the densely wooded shores are
low green islands. Here and there barren rocks
fifty to one hundred feet high stand, sentinel
like, while over their rugged sides pour water-
falls. Ruskin says that " mountains are the be-
ginning an$ the end of all natural scenery."
This wonderful river inspired Bryant's
" Where rolls the Oregon/' Oregon being the
former name of this river — the Indian name.

James Brice paid a tribute of admiration to
the superb extinct volcanos, bearing snow

GOVERNMENT LOCKS ON THE COLUMBIA RIVER.

*^&j*u^$£^

/ ^ OF THE

1 UNIVERSITY

OF

Washington and Oregon 143

fields and glaciers which rise out of the vast
and somber forest on the banks of the Colum-
bia river and the shores of Puget Sound. The
Oregon chain of mountains from Shasta to
Mount Tacoma is a line of extinct volcanos.
A peculiar basaltic formation three hundred
feet high stands at the gateway to the white
capped Cascades of the Columbia river. Here
a Lorelei might sit enthroned and lure to death
with her entrancing music, sailors and fisher-
men. The Cascades are so dangerous that the
government has built locks at this point,
through which every boat passes on its way up
or down the river. The Indian legend as to
the origin of the upheaval in the bed of the riv-
er now called the Cascades runs in this wise:
Years ago when the earth was young, Mount
Hood was the home of the Storm Spirit and
Mt. Adams of the Fire Spirit. Across the vale
that spread between them stretched a mighty
bridge of stone joining peak to peak. On this
altar " the bridge of the gods/' the Indian laid
his offering of fish and dressed skins for Nanne
the goddess of summer. These two spirits,
Storm and Fire, both loving the fair goddess,
grew jealous of each other and fell to fighting.
A perfect gale of fire, lightning, splintered trees

144 A Pacific Coast Vacation

and rocks swept the bridge, but the brave god-
dess courageously kept her place on this strange
altar. In the deep shadows of the rocks, a
warrior who had loved her long but hope-
lessly, kept watch. The storm waxed stronger,
the altar trembled, the earth to its very center
shook. The young chief sprang forward and
caught Nanne in his arms, a crash and the
beautiful goddess and the brave warrior were
buried under the debris forever. The Colum-
bia now goes whirling, tossing and dashing
over that old altar and hurrying on to the sea.
The Spirits of Storm and Fire still linger in
their old haunts but never again will they see the
fair Nanne. The Indian invariably mixes a
grain of truth with much that is wild, weird and
strange. It was Umatilla, chief of the Indians
at the Cascades who brought about peace be-
tween the white man and his red brother. He
had lost all of his children by the plague except
his youngest son, Black Eagle, his father
called him, Benjamin the white man called
him. Black Eagle was still a lad when
an eastern man built a little schoolhouse by the
river and began teaching the Indians. A warm
friendship sprang up between teacher and pupil.
One sad day Black Eagle fell ill with the plague.

RAPIDS, COLUMBIA RIVER.

Washington and Oregon 145

Old Umatilla received the news that his son
could not live, with all the stoicism of his race,
but he went away alone into the wood, return-
ing at the dawn of day. When he returned
Black Eagle was dying.

Slowly the pale lids closed over the sunken
eyes, a breath and the brave lad had trusted his
soul to the white man's God.

The broken-hearted old chief sat the long
night through by the corpse of his son. When
morning came he called the tribe together and
told them he wished to follow his last child to
the grave, but he wanted them to promise
him that they would cease to war with the
white man and seek his friendship. At first
many of the warriors refused, but Umatilla had
been a good chief, and always had given them
fine presents at the potlatches. Consulting
among themselves they finally consented.
When the grave was ready, the braves laid the
body of Black Eagle to rest. Then said the old
chief : " My heart is in the grave with my son.
Be always kind to the white man as you have
promised me, and bury us together. One last
look into the grave of him I loved and Uma-
tilla too shall die." The next instant the gentle,
kind hearted old chief dropped to the ground

146 A Pacific Coast Vacation

dead. Peace to his ashes. They buried him as
he had requested and a little later sought the
teacher's friendship, asking him to guide them.
That year saw the end of the trouble be-
tween the Indians and the white race at the
Dalles.

The old chief still lives in the history of his
country. Umatilla is a familiar name in Dalles
City. The principal hotel bears the name of
Umatilla.

On either side of the river farm houses, or-
chards and wheat fields dot the landscape.

Salmon fishing is the great industry on the
river. The wheels along both sides of the
river have been having a hard time of it this
season from the drift wood, the high water and
the big sturgeon, which sometimes get into the
wheels. A big sturgeon got into a wheel be-
longing to the Dodon Company and slipped
into the bucket, but was too large to be thrown
out. It was carried around and around until it
was cut to pieces, badly damaging the wheel.
Now the law expressly states, as this is the
close season for sturgeon, that when caught
they must be thrown back in the water. " But
what is the use," inquires the Daily News, " if
they are dead? "

FARM ON THE BANK OF THE COLUMBIA RIVER, BELOW THE
DALLES, OREGON.

UNIVERSITY

OF

Washington and Oregon 147

A visit to a salmon cannery is full of interest.
As the open season for salmon is from April
first to August first, the buildings though large
are mere sheds. The work is all done by China-
men. The fish are tossed onto the wharf,
where they are seized by the men, who carry
them in and throw them on to long tables, chop
off their heads, dress them and hold them, one
fish at a time, under a stream of pure mountain
water, which pours through a faucet over the
long sink. Next they are thrown onto another
table, where other Chinamen cut them up ready
for the cans, all in much less time than it takes
to tell about it. The tin is shipped in the sheet
to the canneries and the cans are made on the
ground.

Astoria, the Venus of America, is head-
quarters for the salmon fishing on the Columbia
River. Joaquin Miller described it as a town
which " clings helplessly to a humid hill side,
that seems to want to glide into the great
bay-like river/' Much of it has long ago
glided into the river. Usually the salmon
canneries are built on the shores, but down
here and on toward the sea, where the
river is some seven miles wide, they are
built on piles in mid stream. Nets are

148 A Pacific Coast Vacation

used quite as much as wheels in salmon fishing,
Sometimes a hungry seal gets into the nets, eat-
ing an entire " catch/' and playing havoc with
the net. Up toward the Dalles on the Wash-
ington side of the river, are three springs.
These springs have long been considered by the
Indians a veritable fountain of youth. Long be-
fore the coming of the white man they carried
their sick and aged to these springs, across the
" Bridge of the Gods." Just above Dalles City
lies the dalles which obstruct navigation for
twelve miles. Beyond this point the river is
navigable two hundred miles. Here, too, leg-
ends play an important part.

When the volcanoes of the northwest were
blazing forth their storm of fire, ashes and lava,
a tribe known as the Fire Fiends walked the
earth and held high revelry in this wild country.
When Mount Ranier had ceased to burn the
Devil called the leaders of the tribe together
one day and proposed that they follow nature's
mood and live more peaceably, and that they
quit killing and eating each other. A howl met
this proposal. The Devil deemed it wise just at
this moment to move on, so off he set, a thou-
sand Fire Fiends after him. Now his majesty
could easily whip a score of Fiends, but

Washington and Oregon 149

he was no match for a thousand. He lashed
his wondrous tail about and broke a great
chasm in the ground. Many of the Fiends fell
in, but the greater part leaped the rent and came
on. A second time the ponderous tail came
down with such force that a large ravine was
cracked out of the rocks, the earth breaking
away into an inland sea. The flood engulfed
the Fiends to a man. The bed of the sea is now
a prairie and the three strokes of the Devil's tail
are plainly visible in the bed of the Columbia at
the dalles.

Just across the river from Dalles City on a
high bluff, stands a four story building, the
tower in the center running two stories higher.
The building stands out there alone, a monu-
ment to the enterprise of one American. He
called it a shoe factory, but no machinery was
ever put in position. After the pseudo shoe
factory was completed falsp fronts of other
buildings were set up and the rugged bluffs laid
out in streets. An imaginary bridge spanned
the broad river. Electric lights, also imagi-
nariy, light up this imaginary city. The pic-
tures which this genius drew of his town
showed street cars running on the principal
streets and a busy throng of people passing to

150 A Pacific Coast Vacation

and fro. As to the shoe factory, it was turning
out thousands of imaginary shoes every day.
Now this rogue, when all was ready, carried the
maps and cuts of his town to the east, where
he sold the factory and any number of lots at
a high figure, making a fortune out of his paper
town.

From Dalles City across the country to
Prineville in the Bunch Grass country, a dis-
tance of a hundred miles, the country is prin-
cipally basalt, massive and columnar, present-
ing many interesting geological features. Deep
gorges separate the rolling hills which are cov-
ered with a soil that produces bunch grass in
abundance. This same ground produces fine
wheat and rye. This is a good sheep country
and wool is one of the principal products.

Crater Lake is haunted by witches and
wizards. Ghosts, with seven leagued boots,
hold high revelry on its shores on moonlight
nights, catching any living thing that comes
their way and tossing it into the deep waters of
the lake, where the water devils drag it under.

We spent two delightful days on an Oregon
farm near Hubbard, thirty miles south of Port-
land.

We drove from Hubbard in the morning to

SCENE ON AN OREGON FARM IN THE WILLAMETTE VALLEY.

Washington and Oregon 151

Puddin river. The bridge was being repaired,
so we walked across, our man carrying our
traps. We had just passed Whisky hill when
we met our friend Mr. Kauffman and his
daughter, driving down the road. We were
warmly welcomed and after an exchange of
greetings we drove back with them to their
home, where we partook of such a dinner as
only true hospitality can offer.

Mr. Kauffman owns three hundred acres of
fine farming land. There is no better land any-
where on the Pacific coast than in this beauti-
ful valley of the Willamette river. Beautiful
flowers and shrubs of all sorts in fine contrast
to the green lawn surround the house, which is
painted white, as Ruskin says all houses should
be when set among green trees. Near by is
a spring of pure mountain water. In the
woods pasture beyond the spring pheasants fly
up and away at your approach. Tall ferns nod
and sway in the wind, while giant firs beautiful
enough for the home of a hamadryad lend an
enticing shade at noontime.

If any part of an Oregon farm can be more
interesting than another < it is the orchard,
where apple, peach, plum, pear and cherry
trees vie with each other in producing perfect

152 A Pacific Coast Vacation

fruit. Grapes, too, reach perfection in this de-
lightful climate. One vine in Mr. Kauffman's
vineyard measures eighteen inches in circum-
ference. The dryhouse where the prunes are
dried for market is situated on the south side of
the orchard. No little care and skill is required
to dry this fruit properly.

Wednesday morning we reluctantly bade
good-by to our kind hostess and departed with
Mr. Kauffman for Woodburn, where we took
the train for Portland. The drive of ten miles
took us through a fine farming district. Here
farms may be seen in all stages of advancement
from the " slashing " process, which is the first
step in making a farm in this wooded country,
to the perfect field of wheat, rye, barley or hops.

Arriving at Woodburn we lunched at a tidy
little restaurant. The train came all too soon
and we regretfully bade our host farewell.

The memory of that delightful visit will
linger with us as long as life shall last.

There are few regions in the West to-day
where game is as abundant as in times past.
Yet there are a few spots where sport of the
old time sort may be had, and the lake district
of Southern Oregon is one of these. Here, deer
and bear abound as in days of yore, while

ROADWAY IN OREGON.

Washington and Oregon 153

grouse, squirrel, mallard duck and partridge
are most plentiful.

Fort Klamath lake is a beautiful sheet of
water, sixty miles long by thirty wide. Among
the tules in the marshes the mallard is at home,
while grouse and nut brown partridge by the
thousands glide through the grass. Fish lake
speaks for itself, while the very name, Lake of
the Woods, carries with it an enticing invita-
tion to partake of its hospitality and royal sport.

Travel is an educator. It gives one a
broader view of life and one soon comes to
realize that this great world swinging in space
is a vast field where millions and millions of
souls are traveling each his own road, all doing
different things, all good, all interesting.

In our journeyings we have met many inter-
esting people, but none more interesting than
Miss McFarland, whom we met on our voyage
up the Columbia river. Miss McFarland was
the first American child born in Juneau,
Alaska.

Her only playmates were Indian children.
She speaks the language like a native and was
for years her father's interpreter in his mis-
sion work. She has lived the greater part of
her life on the Hoonah islands. The Hoonah

1 54 A Pacific Coast Vacation

Indians are the wealthiest Indians in America.
Having all become Christians they removed
the last totem pole two years ago.

Reminiscences of Miss McFarland's child-
hood days among the Indians of Alaska would
make interesting reading.

The old people as well as the children attend
the mission schools. One day an old chief
came in asking to be taught to read. He came
quite regularly until the close of the school for
the summer vacation. The opening of the
school in the autumn saw the old man in his
place, but his eyes had failed. He could not see
to read and was in despair. Being advised to
consult an optician he did so and triumphantly
returned with a pair of " white man's eyes/'

Upon one occasion Miss McFarland's mother
gave a Christmas dinner to the old people of her
mission. It is a custom of the Indians to carry
away from the feast all of the food which has
not been eaten. One old man had forgotten his
basket, but what matter, Indian ingenuity came
to his aid. Stepping outside the door he re-
moved his coat and taking off his dress shirt
triumphantly presented it as a substitute in
which to carry home his share of the good
things of the feast.

Washington and Oregon 155

These Indians believe that earthquakes are
caused by an old man who shakes the earth.
Compare this with Norse Mythology. When
the gods had made the unfortunate Loke fast
with strong cords, a serpent was suspended
over him in such a manner that the venom fell
into his face causing him to writhe and twist so
violently that the whole earth shook.

When Miss McFarland left her home in
Hoonah last fall to attend Mill's college every
Indian child in the neighborhood came to say
good-by. They brought all sorts of presents
and with many tears bade her a long farewell.
" Edna go away? " " Ah! Oh! Me so sorry."
" Edna no more come back? " " We no more
happy now Edna gone," " No more happy, Oh !
Oh ! " " Edna no more come back/' " Oh, good-
by, Edna, good-by."

Every Christmas brings Miss McFarland
many tokens of affection from her former play-
mates. Pin cushions, beaded slippers, baskets,
rugs, beaded portemonnaies. Always some-
thing made with their own hands.

Miss McFarland's name, through that of her
parents, is indissolubly connected with Indian
advancement in Alaska.

One meets curious people, too, in traveling.

156 A Pacific Coast Vacation

In the parlor at the hotel one evening a party
of tourists were discussing the point of extend-
ing their trip to Alaska. The yeas and nays
were about equal when up spoke a flashily
dressed little woman, " Well/' said she, " what
is there to see when you get there?'' That
woman belongs to the class with some of our
fellow passengers, both men and women who
sat wrapped in furs and rugs from breakfast to
luncheon and from luncheon to dinner reading
" A Woman's Revenge," " Blind Love," and
" Maude Percy's Secret," perfectly oblivious to
the grandest scenery on the American conti-
nent, scenery which every year numbers of for-
eigners cross continents and seas to behold.

One of our fellow travelers is a German
physician who is spending the summer on the
coast. He is deeply interested in the woman
question in America. He is quite sure that
American women have too much liberty.
" Why," said he, " they manage everything.
They rule the home, the children and their hus-
bands, too. Why, madam, it is outrageous.
Now surely the man ought to be the head of
the house and manage the children and the wife
too, she belongs to him, doesn't she? "

Washington and Oregon 157

" Not in America/' we replied, " the men are
too busy, and besides they enjoy having their
homes managed for them. Then, too, the wo-
men are too independent."

" That is just what I say, madam, they have
too much liberty, they are too independent.
They go everywhere they like, do everything
they like and ask no man nothings at all."

My German friend evidently thinks that un-
less this wholesale independence of women is
checked our country will go to destruction.
The war with Spain does not compare with it.
I am wondering yet if our critic's wife is one
of those independent American women.

Just below Portland on the banks of the
Willamette river and connected with Portland
by an electric street railway stands the first
capital of Oregon, Oregon City, the stronghold
of the Hudson Bay Company, which aided
England in so nearly wrenching that vast terri-
tory from the United States.

This quaint old town is rapidly taking on the
marks of age. The warehouse of that mighty
fur company stands at the wharf, weather
beaten and silent. No busy throng of trappers,
traders and Indians awaken its echoes with

158 A Pacific Coast Vacation

barter and jest. No fur loaded canoe glides
down the river. No camp fire smoke curls up
over the dark pine tops.

The Indian with his blanket, the trapper with
his snares and the trader with his wares have
all disappeared before the march of a newer
civilization. The camp fire has given place to
the chimney; the blanket to the overcoat; the
trader to the merchant and the game preserves
to fields of waving grain.

The lonely old warehouse looks down in
dignified silence on the busy scenes of a city full
of American push and go.

All the forenoon the drowsy porter sat on his
stool at the door of the sleeper, ever and anon
peering down the aisle or scanning the features
of the passengers.

What could be the cause of his anxiety?
Was he a detective in disguise? Had some
one been robbed the night before ? Had some
one forgotten to pay for services rendered?
Had that handsome man run away with the
beautiful fair haired woman at his side?
Visions of the meeting with an irate father at
the next station dawned on the horizon.

The train whirled on and still the porter kept
up his vigilance.

Washington and Oregon 159

It was nearly noon when I stepped across to
my own section and picked up my shoes. The
sleepy porter was wide awake now. His face
was a study. For one brief moment I was sure
that he was a detective and that he thought
he had caught the rogue for whom he was
looking.

" Them your shoes, Madam ?" said he ap-
proaching me.

" Yes."

" Why, Madam, I've been waitin here all
mornin' for the owner to come and get 'em."

Ah, now I understood. He was responsi-
ble for the shoes and he thought that they be-
longed to a man. Fifty cents passed into the
faithful black hands and my porter disappeared
with just a hint of a smile on his face.

CHAPTER XII

OFF FOR CALIFORNIA

WE left Portland on the night train for San
Francisco. I took my gull, the Captain we
called him, into the sleeper with me. He was
asleep when I placed his basket under my berth,
but about midnight he awoke and squawked
frightfully.

I rang for the porter but before he arrived
the Captain had awakened nearly every one in
the car. Angry voices were heard inquiring
what that " screeching, screaming thing/5 was.

An old gentleman thrust his red night capped
head out of his berth next to mine and angrily
demanded of me where that nasty beast came
from. When I politely told him he said he
wished that I had had the good sense to leave it
there. Then he said something that sounded
dreadfully like swear words, but being such an
old gentleman I've no doubt that my ears de-
ceived me.

At any rate it was something about sea gulls
1 60

Off for California 1 6 1

in general and my own in particular. His red
flannel cap disappeared and presently I heard
him snoring away up in G. Now my poor
gull only squawked on low C. After that the
Captain traveled in the baggage car with the
trunks and packages.

Traveling south from Portland one passes
farms and orchards until the foot of the Sierra
Nevada range is reached. Most of the farms
are well improved. Many of the orchards are
bearing, while others are young.

Here and there in the mountains are cattle
ranches. These mountains are not barren,
rugged rocks like the Selkirks of Alaska. Here
there is plenty of pasture to the very summit of
the mountains.

Wolf Creek valley is one vast hay field. Up
we go until the far-famed Rogue River valley
is reached. This noble valley lying in the heart
of the Sierras reminds one of the great Mo-
hawk valley of New York.

Ashland is the center of this prosperous dis-
trict. The Southern State Normal School is
located here.

The seventh annual assembly of the Southern
Oregon Chautauqua will convene in Ashland in
July. This assembly is always well attended.

1 62 A Pacific Coast Vacation

Farmers bring their families and camp on the
grounds. The program contains the names of
musicians prominent on the coast. Among the
lecturers are the names of men and women
prominent in their special fields. Frank Beard,
the noted chalk talk lecturer, will be present.
So you see that the wild and woolly west is not
here, but has moved on to the Philippines.

When the passenger train stops at the station
of Ashland a score of young fruit venders
swarm on the platform, crying plums, cherries,
peaches and raspberries at fifteen cents a box.
When the train-bell rings fruit suddenly falls to
ten cents and when the conductor cries " All
aboard " fruit takes a downward plunge to five
cents a box, but the fruit is all so delicious that
you do not feel in the least cheated in having
paid the first price. " Look here, you young
rascal/' said a newspaper man, who travels
over the road frequently to one of the young
fruit dealers, " I bought raspberries of you yes-
terday at five cents a box." " O no you
didn't, mister, never sold raspberries at five
cents a box in my life sir, pon honor/' In less
than three minutes this young westerner was
crying " Nice ripe raspberries here, five cents a
box." " Why," said I, " I thought you told

CLIMBING THE SHASTA RANGE.

Off for California 163

the gentleman that you never sold berries at five
cents a box/' " No, Madam, I didn't, pon
honor," and the little rogue really looked in-
nocent.

Leaving Ashland with three big engines we
climb steadily up four thousand one hundred
and thirty feet to the summit of the range.

The Rogue River valley spreads out below us
in a grand panorama of wheat, oats, barley
fields and orchards. Down the southern slope
the commercial interest centers in large saw-
mills and cattle ranches.

Off to the east lie the lava beds where Gen.
Canby and his companions were £3 treacherously
assassinated by the Modoc Indians under the
leadership of Captain Jack and Scar Faced
Charley.

Crossing the Klatmath River valley the
dwelling place in early days of the Klatmath
Indians, the engines make merry music as they
puff, puff, puff in a sort of Rhunic rhyme to the
whir of the wheels as they groan and
climb three thousand nine hundred feet
to the summit of the Shasta range. There
is something wonderfully fascinating about
mountain climbing. Whether by rail over a
route laid out by a skilled engineer; on the back

164 A Pacific Coast Vacation

of a donkey over a trail just wide enough for
the feet of the little beast, or staff in hand you
go slowly up over rocks and bowlders, or
around them, clinging to trees and shrubs for
support. The very fact that the train may
without a moment's notice plunge through a
trestle or go plowing its way down the mount-
ain side; the donkey lose his head and take a
false step; the shrub break or a bowlder come
tearing down the rock-ribbed mountain and
crush your life out, thrills the blood and holds
the mind enthralled as a bird is held enchanted
by the charm of the pitiless snake.

Throughout the mountains mistletoe, that
mystic plant of the Druids, hangs from the
limbs and trunks of tall trees.

It was with an arrow made from mistletoe
that Hoder slew the fair Baldur.

All day long snow-covered Mt. Shasta has
been in sight and toward evening we pass near
it on the southern side of the range and stop
at the Shasta Soda Springs. The principal
spring is natural soda water. This is the
fashionable summer resort of San Francisco
people, who come here to get warm, the climate
of that city being so disagreeable during July

THE HIGHEST TRESTLE IN THE WORLD, NEAR MUIR'S PEAK,
SHASTA RANGE.

THE

f UNIVERSITY 1

OF

Off for California 165

and August that people are glad to leave town
for the more genial air of the mountains.

It certainly is odd to have people living in the
heart of a great city ask you during these two
months if it is hot out in the country. " Out in
the country " means forty or fifty miles out,
where there is plenty of heat and sunshine. At
Shasta Springs, however, the weather is cooler.
The climate is delightful, the water refreshing
and the strawberries beyond compare. Bote-
ler, known as a lover of strawberries, once said
of his favorite fruit : " Doubtless God could
have made a better berry, but doubtless God
never did/'

Just beyond the springs stand the wonderful
Castle Crags. Hidden in the very depths of
these lofty Crags lies a beautiful lake. This
strange old castle of solid granite, its towers
and minarets casting long shadows in the moon-
light for centuries, is not without its historic in-
terest, though feudal baron nor chatelaine
dainty ever ruled over it. Joaquin Miller, in
the " Battle of Castle Crag/' tells the tale of its
border history.

Not far away at the base of Battle Rock a
bloody battle was once fought between a few

1 66 A Pacific Coast Vacation

whites and the Shasta Indians on one side and
the Modoc Indians on the other.

The Indians of California say that Mt.
Shasta was the first part of the earth created.
Surely it is grand enough and beautiful enough
to lay claim to this pre-eminence. When the
waters receded the earth became green with
vegetation and joyous with the song of birds,
the Great Manitou hollowed out Mt. Shasta for
a wigwam. The smoke of his lodge fires
(Shasta is an extinct volcano) was often seen
pouring from the cone before the white man
came.

Kmukamtchiksh is the evil spirit of the world.
He punishes the wicked by turning them into
rocks on the mountain side or putting them
down into the fires of Shasta.

Many thousands of snows ago a terrible
storm swept Mt. Shasta. Fearing that his
wigwam would be turned over, the Great Spirit
sent his youngest and fairest daughter to the
crater at the top of the mountain to speak to the
storm and command it to cease lest it blow the
mountain away. She was told to make haste
and not to put her head out lest the Wind catch
her in his powerful arms and carry her away.

The beautiful daughter hastened to the sum-

1 1

OF THE

UNIVERSITY

OF

Off for California 167

mit of the peak, but never having seen the ocean
when it was lashed into a fury by the storm
wind, she thought to take just one peep, a fatal
peep it proved. The Wind caught her by her
long red hair and dragged her down the
mountain side to the timber below.

At this time the grizzly bears held in fee all
the surrounding country, even down to the sea.
In those magic days of long ago they walked
erect, talked like men and carried clubs with
which to slay their enemies.

At the time of the great storm a family of
grizzlies was living in the edge of the forest
just below the snow line. When the father
grizzly returned one day from hunting he saw
a strange little creature sitting under a fir tree
shivering with cold. The snow gleamed and
glowed where her beautiful hair trailed over it.
He took her to his wife who was very wise in
the lore of the mountains. She knew who the
strange child was but she said nothing about it
to old father grizzly, but kept the little creature
and reared her with her own children.

When the oldest grizzly son had quite grown
up his mother proposed to him that he marry
her foster daughter who had now grown to be a
beautiful woman.

1 68 A Pacific Coast Vacation

Many deer were slain by the old father
grizzly and his sons for the marriage feast.
All the grizzly families throughout the
mountains were bidden to the feast.

When the guests had eaten of the deer and
drank of the wine distilled from bear berries
and elder berries in moonlight at the foot of
Mt. Shasta, when the feast was over, they all
united and built for their princess a magnifi-
cent wigwam near that of her father. This is
" Little Mt. Shasta."

The children of this strange pair were a new
race, — the first Indians.

Now, all this time the great spirit was ig-
norant of the fate of his beloved daughter, but
when the old mother grizzly came to die she felt
that she could not lie peacefully in her grave
until she had restored the princess to her father.

Inviting all the grizzlies in the forest to be
present at the lodge of the princess, she sent her
oldest grandson wrapt in a great white cloud to
the summit of Mt. Shasta to tell the Great
Spirit where his daughter lived.

Now when the great Manitou heard this he
was so happy he ran down the mountain side so
fast that the snow melted away under his feet.

Off for California 169

To this day you can see his footprints in the
lava among the rocks on the side of the
mountain.

The grizzlies by thousands met him and
standing with clubs at " attention " greeted him
as he passed to the lodge of his daughter.

But when he saw the strange children and
learned that this was a new race he was angry
and looked so savagely at the old mother grizzly
that she died instantly. The grizzlies now set
up a dreadful wail, but he ordered them to keep
quiet and to get down on their hands and knees
and remain so until he should return. He
never returned, and to this day the poor doomed
grizzlies go on all fours.

A wonderful feat of jugglery, but a greater
was that of the Olympian goddess who changed
the beautiful maiden Callisto into a bear, which
Jupiter set in the heavens, and where she is to
be seen every night, beside her son the Little
Bear.

The angry Manitou turned his strange
grandchildren out of doors, fastened the door
and carried his daughter away to his own wig-
wam.

The Indians to this day believe that a bear

170 A Pacific Coast Vacation

can talk if you will only sit still and listen to
him. The Indians will not harm a bear. Now
for the meaning of those queer little piles of
stones one sees so frequently in the Shasta
mountains. If an Indian is killed by a bear he
is burned on the spot where he fell. Every In-
dian who passes that way will fling a stone at
the fated place to dispel the charm that hangs
over it.

" All that wide and savage water-shed of the
Sacramento tributaries to the south and west of
Mt. Shasta affords good bear hunting at almost
any season of the year — if you care to take the
risks. But he is a velvet-footed fellow, and
often when and where you expect peace you
will find a grizzly. Quite often when and where
you think that you are alone, just when you
begin to be certain that there is not a single
grizzly bear in the mountains, when you begin
to breathe the musky perfume of Mother
Nature as she shapes out the twilight stars in
her hair, and you start homeward, there stands
your long lost bear in your path ! And your
bear stands up! And your hair stands up!
And you wish you had not lost him ! And you
wish you had not found him! And you start

Off for California 171

for home! And you go the other way glad,
glad to the heart if he does not come tearing
after you." *

Downward from Mt. Shasta flows the Sac-
ramento river. For thirty miles it goes tum-
bling over bowlders and granite ledges on its
way to the sea. In mid-summer the Sacra-
mento canon is a paradise of unbrageous
beauty, a region of forest and groves, of leafy
shrubs, delicate ferns, mosses and beautiful
flowers, of roaring, tumbling rivers, shining
lakelets and dancing trout streams.

Up in the mountains the dewberries are
ripe. They are about the size of currants, but
farther down the slope they are larger. Black-
berries are also plentiful, also the black rasp-
berry, called by the Indians succotash.

The coniferous forests of the Sierra Nevada
range are the most beautiful in the world.
Here, where the granite domes which are so
striking a feature of the Sierras, we find the
most beautiful little meadows lying on the tops
of the dividing ridges or on their sloping sides.
These meadows are all aglow with wild flowers,
rank columbines, stately larkspur, daisies and

* JOAQUIN MILLER, A Bear Hunt in the Fifties.

172 A Pacific Coast Vacation

the lovely lupines, beds of blue and white vio-
lets, many strange grasses and beautiful sedges,
and the glory of them all, the lily.

The magnificent sunset of the mountains, the
afterglow resting on their summits, the many
clouds of various hues, borrowing the tints of
the rainbow,

" That glory mellower than a mist
Of pearl dissolved with amethyst,"

resting on the snowy peaks, lend an enchant-
ment to the scene that might entice the elf
king Oberon himself and all his crew of Pixies
and Imps back to earth.

Doubtless God might have created a more
magnificent range of mountains than the Sier-
ras, but doubtless God never did.

" If thou art worn and hard beset
With sorrows thou wouldst forget,
Go to the woods and hills."

— LONGFELLOW.

" There ain't nothing like fresh air and the
smell of the woods. There's always a smell
from trees dead, or living, and the air is better
where the woods be/'

CHAPTER XIII

SAN FRANCISCO

THE Pacific slope has a wonderful flora
which has been but little studied. Here won-
derful ferns and laurels grow the whole year
round. With few exceptions all the plants are
new and strange. One of the most beautiful
trees on the coast is the madrona, graceful and
stately, its red trunk contrasting oddly with its
green foliage. The dandelion is here but
puts on such airs and graces that unless you are
quite familiar with him you would never take
him for the common weed he is at home. He
grows several in a cluster on a delicate stem
twelve to fifteen inches long. He is the pale
yellow of California gold. His white head
when he goes to seed is more frowsy than with
us, and the seeds are a little different in shape,
but he wings himself over onto people's lawns
with the agility and grace of his Illinois
brother.

There are many points of interest in San
173

174 A Pacific Coast Vacation

Francisco and not the least of these is China
Town, which has a population of thirty thou-
sand people. A Chinese school is a place
of interest. The boys (girls are not sent
to school in China Town) stand at long
tables running across the room. The pupils
all study aloud. Besides their books each
pupil is provided with a small camel's
hair brush and a pot of ink with which
he writes out his lessons in the characters of his
native language. The paper used is very red,
while the ink is very black. This is a priest's
school and these little almond-eyed Orientals
in their quaint caps and gowns are all study-
ing for the priesthood. They laugh and whis-
per too, when the teacher's attention is engaged
elsewhere, just like American children. One
boy painted a Chinese character on another's
face, then they all laughed and the first boy
wiped it angrily off. The teacher had not seen
it, so no one was punished. The teacher, a fine
looking man in the native dress of his country,
with a few strokes of his brush painted for us
on red paper an advertisement of his school.
Teacher and pupils bowed a good morning as
we departed.

At the Christian Mission the Chinese minis-

San Francisco 175

ter, a man of much intelligence, greeted us cor-
dially, asking where we were from. He knew
where Chicago was and something about it.
He was sorry that the services were over and
asked us to come again next Sunday at ten
o'clock.

The tea house, which is the club room, is the
finest oriental club house in America. The
beautiful tables and chairs are all inlaid with
marble and pearl.

The Joss House, which is the temple, is mag-
nificently adorned and decorated. A cup of
tea, which of course evaporates, is kept setting
in front of the god, but his worshipers believe
he drinks it. Lamps and incense are kept burn-
ing all the time to keep the evil spirits away.
The worshipers come and go at all hours. No
regular services are held except at New Years
and on feast days. Upon request, however, the
priest will accompany an individual to the tem-
ple and conduct services for him.

The home of an aristocratic Chinaman is full
of interest to an American. In the home in
which we visited everything except the chairs
came from China, and these looked oddly out
of place against the background of rich ori-
ental draperies, and the quaint costumes of our

176 A Pacific Coast Vacation

hostess and her daughter. Our hostess was a
large woman, but she proudly displayed her
tiny feet, the mark of true aristocracy. She
hobbled bravely about on these feet only four
inches long and did the honors of her house.

When in exchange for the compliment of
seeing these aristocratic feet I quite as proudly
thrust out my American ones encased in No. 6
broad-soled mountain climbers, the dear lady
bowed and smiled, but made no comment. The
six-year-old daughter of the house was suffer-
ing the tortures of having her feet bound.
When the Chinese become Christians they
abandon this practice.

In an opium den an old smoker showed us
how he smoked the fateful drug. He first
took a large lump of opium on a long needle
and holding it in the flame of a candle, burnt
the poison out of it, then thrust it into the cup
of his long pipe, the tiny opening of which he
held near the lighted candle, sucking the blue
smoke into his lungs and exhaling it through
his nostrils.

In the drug store the druggist was putting
up a prescription for a sick Chinaman who was
standing near. He took down four different
bottles and took some roots out of each. Tell-

STREET SCENE IN CHINATOWN, SAN FRANCISCO.

San Francisco 177

ing the man to make a tea of them he tied them
up and handed them over the counter and re-
ceived his pay. There were lizards and toads
there also to be made into medicine.

In the jewelry store four goldsmiths were at
work making rings, bracelets and earrings, all
by hand.

In the market all sorts of fish and birds were
offered for sale. A big fat pig roasted whole
looked tempting indeed. Beans, which had
been kept damp until they had sprouted, the
sprouts an inch to two inches long were ready
to be made into a tempting salad. There were
baskets of green watermelons the size of an or-
ange.

This being Sunday the streets were thronged
with Chinese in native holiday dress, who
sauntered leisurely along or gathered in groups
chatting away in their native tongue. Their
long queues tied with black ribbon hung down
the back or were tucked into the side pocket of
the tunic. Here and there an Oriental who had
imbibed some of the American energy hurried
along dressed in the somber business suit of the
American, his closely cropped hair, mustache
and American shoes making a strange contrast
to the groups on the corner.

1 7 8 A Pacific Coast Vacation

There is no Sunday in the calendar of these
almond-eyed Orientals, — the stores, markets
and opium dens were all open.

Presently the weird music of the Salvation
Army broke on our ears. Down the street
came the Chinese Salvation band, dressed in
American costume, the leader carrying the
American flag.

When the first Chinese came to Califor-
nia the Indians were very curious about them.
A dispute arose among them as to what coun-
try the strangers might hail from, and whether
or not they were Indians.

The Indians, wise as the Puritans of old,
would apply the water test. If the accused
swam they were witches, if they drowned they
were innocent.

One day a party of Indians met a party of
Chinamen approaching a little stream,,

The strangers approached the bridge and
started across. The Indians too filed across and
meeting the Chinamen in mid-stream pushed
two of them into the angry, spooming current
below. The test was conclusive. They could
not swim. They were not Indians.

In the fire department are exhibited two

San Francisco 179

queer old engines. One was purchased in New
York in 1849 anc^ brought around the Horn.
The other is a hand engine a little more modern
in make. These engines are carefully guarded
and never taken out except on rare occasions.

Down toward the wharf there stands a
quaint old building, the material for which
was brought around Cape Horn in 1850. This
was San Francisco's first hotel.

In the wild days of the early history of this
little adobe city, nestled among the dunes and
sand hills, Mount Diable looked down on weird
scenes on the plaza in front of this old hotel.
Here the famous vigilance committee meted out
justice to rogue and outlaw alike.

In the early history of California the eighth
day of July, 1846, stands out conspicuously.
On that day the Brooklyn dropped her anchor
off the island of Yerba Buena, the " good herb,"
and flung the Stars and Stripes to the breeze.
At noon Captain Montgomery unfurled the
American flag on the plaza.

In that good ship came a party of pseudo
Mormons, under the leadership of " Bishop "
Brannan, the valiant leader of the Vigilance
Society. This colony of Latter Day saints

180 A Pacific Coast Vacation

brought stout hearts, keen wits, strong arms,
pluck, plenty of money and a printing press.
Later they quarreled with their bishop and went
to law with him and thus gave up their scheme
of Mormon colonization and made sport of
Brigham Young himself in their tents on the
beach.

But they gave to San Francisco her first
newspaper pledged to eschew all sectarian
dogmas; her first prayer meeting and her first
trial by jury. A wonderfully progressive peo-
ple, those Mormons of the sand dunes.

Washington Bartlett, the first alcalde of
Yerba Buena, changed the name to San Fran-
cisco.

The name of John C. Fremont stands for
California as does that of Dr. Marcus Whitman
for Oregon.

We called on the astrologer. When our horo-
scopes were cast and our future told us, we
bade adieu to China Town.

The Golden Gate park is a perfect bower of
beauty, a fine piece of landscape gardening.

In the center of the park stands the Hall of
Art, a handsome building of Egyptian archi-
tecture. From the display in the relic depart-

MUSEUM IN GOLDEN GATE PARK, SAN FRANCISCO.

OF THE

UNIVERSITY

OF

San Francisco 1 8 1

ment one easily reads the history of early days
in California.

In the department of statuary the loveliest
figure was one in the beautiful carrara marble
of Merope who was cast out of heaven because
she fell in love with a mortal.

A plaster cast of the head of David after the
colossal statue by Michael Angelo set in place
in Florence in 1504, attracted much attention.

Michael Angelo had his troubles like other
mortals. When his David was placed in posi-
tion the mayor of Florence objected to the nose
of the statue, saying it was too large. Angelo,
perceiving that his critic's position gave him a
poor light on the figure, took a handful of
marble dust, a hammer and a chisel and climb-
ing to the head of the statue gave the nose a
few taps, at the same time letting fall the dust.
The mayor without changing position declared
the nose perfect.

The Second Oregon had come home : Early
in the morning the commanders were instructed
to get their men ready to march to the barracks.
Ten minutes later the regiment was on the
wharf, the men wearing the blue shirts, brown
trousers and leggins which they wore when

1 82 A Pacific Coast Vacation

charging through the jungles and over the rice
fields in the Philippines. The mascot detach-
ment was not so easily landed.

" Here, Walker, take this monkey," shouted
a corporal.

" Grab that goat quick, he is going over-
board."

" Lend me a hand here, you privates; let's
get this menagerie ashore," commanded the
officer of the day.

Order reigned about two seconds when
" Monkey overboard " turned order into chaos.
Twenty men rushed to the edge of the wharf
and strenuous efforts were made to save the
life of the little brown fellow who had toppled
off the gang plank. Ropes were carried from
every corner of the wharf, but the efforts of
the men were unavailing and the monkey lost
his life. The other monkeys, the parrots, the
dogs and the goat were safely landed. The goat
chews tobacco and eats it too.

The Oregon band struck up " Home Sweet
Home " in quick time and the march to
the Presidio began.

For an hour or more a man near me had been
talking in a pessimistic way about the war. He
said this Philippine scuffle didn't amount to

San Francisco 183

much anyway. What did we want with their
old islands, anyhow ? We ought to return them.
It was a violation of the constitution to keep
them.

Ten minutes later he was saying, " I can't
stand it," as platoon after platoon went by with
decimated ranks. One platoon had left nearly
every man in the Philippines.

There were others who " couldn't stand it."
" Home Sweet Home " sounded like a mock-
ery. Up the street trudged these boys in blue,
travel stained and weary, bearing the flag with
holes in it, holes made by the death-winged
bullets of the Filippinos. How gaunt and sick
they looked. War had not been play with
them. Not many cheers were heard. There
were more " God bless you boys " than " Hur-
rahs."

Other bands may play better, other bands
may play louder, but none ever played more ef-
fectively than the Oregon.

Three big flags flung their folds to the ocean
breeze as the regiment marched up the street.
One of them was a dazzle of blue and gold and
one bright and new, but one was the real Old
Glory, torn by shot and shell, raveled and
frayed by the Philippine winds. It was the

184 A Pacific Coast Vacation

battle stained, tattered emblem of our country's
honor that received the heartiest cheers and
warmest welcome. This was the flag that
brought the mist before the eyes and brought to
the mind Decatur's noble toast, " Our country.
In her intercourse with foreign countries may
she always be right; but right or wrong, our
country. "

On stretchers borne by the ambulance corps
came the sick and wounded. A great contrast,
these war-worn soldiers, to the spick and span
Sixth Cavalry which escorted them.

Right royally did the Queen of the Golden
Gate welcome home Oregon's noble sons.

Passing the Examiner building nearly a mil-
lion firecrackers which decorated the building,
hanging in great loops and festoons, were set
off. In the midst of this noise some one
threw out a big boquet of American Beauty
roses. A soldier caught them and sniffed their
fragrance. " They're American Beauties,
boys," he said and passed them on. Up and
down the line went those roses, each man bury-
ing his face in them for a moment, then passing
them on to his brother. When they had passed
the rear line they were handed to the next pla-

San Francisco 185

toon, and so. they went on down that battle-
scarred line.

The little Filippino boy, Manuel Robels, who
accompanied the boys home, caught nearly
every eye as he trudged along, a sawed-off
Mauser rifle over one shoulder and an Ameri-
can flag over the other. Flowers were showered
on him too.

Out at Van Ness street General Shafter sat
on horseback with his staff, to review the
troops.

Just beyond the place of review a company of
wee tots with military hats and lath guns stood
at the edge of the side-walk and presented arms.
All that gallant regiment, from the colonel to
the little Filippino boy, returned the salute of
those patriotic tots.

Thus the noble Second regiment of the Ore-
gon Volunteers marched out to the Presidio and
to Fame's eternal camping ground.

The Presidio, now the United States bar-
racks, was established by the Spaniards in
1776. Little dreamed they that out of this camp
would come one hundred years later a conquer-
ing host.

The camp is delightfully located on the bay

1 86 A Pacific Coast Vacation

north of the city. The grounds include a thou-
sand acres. The officers' quarters are neat, cosy
cottages. The long porches and verandas of the
barracks are covered with vines and roses.
Rows upon rows of flowers such as only grow
in this moist climate decorate the walks on
either side.

CHAPTER XIV

CALIFORNIA FARMS AND VINEYARDS

WHAT temperament is to a man, that climate
is to a country. The climate of California is
one of the most delightful in the world.

California possesses the wealth of two zones.
The ocean current gives it a temperate climate
and the mountain ranges intercepting and re-
flecting the sun's rays give California a climate
distinctly her own.

Fine fruit farms surround San Francisco
for fifty miles. Irrigation, combined with a
genial climate, produces the delicious fruit for
which California is justly famed. In the vine-
yards the vines are pruned low, from two to
four feet high. The Leland Stanford vineyard
is one of the finest on the coast, the low pruned
vines with their dark green leaves and rich pur-
ple fruit making a fine contrast to the red brown
soil.

California produces more wine to the acre
than any other country in the world. The best
187

1 88 A Pacific Coast Vacation

American wines come from Sonoma county,
the Asti of America, where a thousand foot-
hills are planted in choice wine grapes, and
where nature supplies all the moisture necessary
to perfectly ripen the fruit.

The vines are planted eight feet apart, inter-
sected by wide avenues, down which the wagons
pass in gathering up the boxes into which the
pickers have tossed the ripe grapes — only well
ripened grapes make good wine. Many of these
roadways are lined on either side with olives,
palms and other semi-tropical plants.

The pickers are mostly Swiss and Italian,
men of practical experience in their own coun-
tries. They work in groups and keep up a run-
ning fire of jest and fun; ever and anon a happy
heart breaks out in native song.

Pitchers of rude crockery are scattered about
filled with wine for the workers.

From San Diego to Dutch Harbor w'ne
flows freely, but yet there is no drunkenness to
speak of.

The interest in a vineyard centers in the
winery and the wine cellars. The grapes are
first picked from the stems, then thrown into
the great crushers, the juice flowing away
through flumes to the fermenting vats. Asti

EARLY MORNING, YOSEMITE VALLEY.

California Farms and Vineyards 189

boasts the largest wine-tank in the world. It is
dug out of the soft stone which abounds in this
country and lined with a thick layer of cement.

No less interesting is the cool, fragrant wine
cellar. Here immense casks made of red wood
stand upright, holding some of them, thirty
gallons of wine.

When California was wild, the entire state
was one sweet bee garden. Wherever a bee
might fly, within the confines of this virgin
wilderness, from forest to plain, from moun-
tain to valley, from leafy glen to piny slope,
chalices laden with golden nectar greeted him.

Those halcyon days of our humble brown
friend are past. The plow and the sheep have
played havoc with those once beautiful gardens.
Now the lonely bee who would his trade pursue
must fly far afield.

Traveling east and south from San Fran-
cisco, the fruit ranches are soon left behind and
we enter the wheat district. Here we find no
irrigation ditches. Every farm has a wind-mill,
which pumps water for the stock and also for
the orchard and garden. The yield of wheat is
low, averaging only about twenty-five bushels
to the acre.

This wheat is not used in the United States,

1 90 A Pacific Coast Vacation

being of a lower grade than Minnesota and Da-
kota wheat. It is shipped to the eastern
markets, China, Japan and the Philippines.

We traveled one hundred and fifty miles
through this district during the harvest.
The combined harvester and thresher, drawn
by forty mules, cuts a wide swath, threshes
the grain at once, sacks it and clumps
it on the ground ready for shipment.
The wheat ripens during the dry season and so
thoroughly that it can be threshed immediately
after cutting. As the farmer has no fear of
rain at this time of the year, he lets the sacks
lie in the field until he is ready to sell.

The islands of the San Joaquin river are
wonderfully fertile and many of them are under
cultivation. The uncultivated islands produce
every year a dense growth of bulrushes. Ef-
forts have been made to utilize these in various
ways.

WAWONA VALLEY.

CHAPTER XV

YOSEMITE

LEAVING the San Joaquin valley and its vast
wheat fields we take the stage at Berenda and
head direct for the snow-capped Sierras. Gold
mines now claim attention and we stop at Grub
Gulch. " The diggins " here are not very rich
and we journey on over the low foot hills to
King's Gulch, where a rich quartz lode is be-
ing profitably worked by electricity.

The drowse of a July noontide is in the air.
Rattlesnakes wriggle through the short, dry
grass. The Indians say that for every man a
rattlesnake kills he gains a rattle. Most minds
become panic stricken at the sight of a rattle-
snake. Not so poor Lo, he slays his enemy and
counts his rattles.

Three hundred miles southeast of San Fran-
cisco in the Sierra Nevada mountains lies the
beautiful valley of Ahwahne, where Diana her-
self might deign to follow the chase, for noble
game roam these Arcadian wilds, where giant
191

192 A Pacific Coast Vacation

sugar pines and silver firs lend beauty to the
landscape.

Higher up and nearer the heart of the moun-
tains lies another lovely vale called the Indian's
Wawona. where dwelt Naiads, Fauns and all
their kindred tribe,

" Upon a time, before the fairy broods
Drove Nymph and Satyr from the prosperous woods,
Before King Oberon's bright diadem.
Scepter and mantle clasp'd with dewy gem.
Frighted away the Dryads and the Fauns
From rushes green and brakes and cowslipped lawns."

—KEATS.

Here Jove himself treads not and forbears to
hurl a thunderbolt.

A bird's flight beyond this playground of the
fairies, deep in the shady wood of the great
sugar pines of Mariposa county are the giant
Sequois, " the big trees." The Indians called
them Waw Nonas, Big Trees.

Five thousand years ago they struck their
tiny roots deep into the soil of the mountains.
Before Columbus was born they tossed their
giant branches against the mountain storms.
They have seen the passing of the Indian and
the coming of the white man.

In the aeons of past centuries there were about
thirty species of this genus scattered over the

OLDEST LOG CABIN IN THE SEQUOIA GROVE, MARIPOSA COUNTY
CALIFORNIA. OLD COLUMBIA IN THE FOREGROUND.

Yosemite 193

earth. In Asia fossilized specimens of cones,
foliage and wood have been found. To-day
there are but two living specimens of these trees
on earth, the Sequoia gigantea and the Sequoia
sempervirens, or redwood. The. former are to
be found only in the Sierras, while the latter
grows only on the Coast range, and all in Cali-
fornia. The largest tree in the Sequoia grove
in Mariposa county measures one hundred and
eighty feet in circumference and three hundred
and sixteen feet in height.

This, the largest tree in the world, has been
named Columbia.

The YoSemite, the most wonderful of all
valleys, lies hidden deep in the heart of the
Sierras. It detracts something from the ro-
mance of the musical Spanish when one learns
that YoSemite is only Spanish for grizzly bear.
The first white men to enter the valley were
looking for bear, not scenery.

This wonderful valley, this marvelous gorge,
" touched by a light that hath no name, a glory
never sung," is a puzzle to geologists. It is a
granite-walled chasm in the very heart of the
mountains. The solid rock walls have split in
half, one-half dropping out of sight, leaving
only this beautiful valley to tell the tale.

194 A Pacific Coast Vacation

Down the dark, frowning walls, which rise
sheer from three to five thousand feet,
plunge numerous waterfalls which leap two
thousand feet at a bound. Through the
valley flows the Merced river. Its water,
clear as crystal, is full of that most delicious
of all fish, mountain trout. A most pellucid
stream does not flow on this continent. Up in
the mountain the Merced river is a wild, roar-
ing torrent, but through the valley it flows
placidly over its white pebble bed, bathing the
brown roots of the trees that fringe its banks.
The trout float lazily along, leaping up to catch
the insects that fly over the water, or sleeping
in quiet pools and shady nooks along the bank.
Here the cook drops his line out of the kitchen
window and hooks trout for our breakfast.

The air is fragrant with the odor of many
blossoms. The murmur of YoSemite falls lulls
one to sleep as it goes leaping clown five thou
sand feet over the granite wall to the pool be-
low, clashing with spray the flowers that bloom
on its banks.

YoSemite is truly a valley with little sugges-
tion of the canon about it. The Half Dome
towering high above almost conceals the trench
of the river, and the gorge of Tenaya creek.

HALF DOME AND MERCED RIVER.

Yosemite 195

Several thousand broad acres spread out in a
level tract on its long narrow bottom.

El Capitan is the monarch of the world of
rocks. A solid mass of granite, towering sky-
ward three-fifths of a mile, barren except for
one lone tree, an alligator pine, one hundred
and twenty-seven feet high, growing on a nar-
row ledge, in a niche a thousand feet above its
base. Its rugged face, one and one-half miles
across, kissed to a soft creamy whiteness by the
suns of summer and the snows of winter. That
is El Capitan, the wonder of the world. The
Indians call it Tutockahnulah, in honor of their
greatest chief.

Scarred and hoary, the Three Brothers stand
like severe hierophants, looking down into this
mysterious vale.

That marvel of lakes, Mirror lake, called by
the Indians Sleeping Water, adds beauty to this
wonderful valley, so placid, so clear the water
that the rocky wall and every tree and shrub
on its banks lie on the bosom of the water as
if reflected in a 'mirror.

" Aloft on sky and mountain wall are God's
great pictures hung/'

The legend of the lovely falls called Bridal
Veil runs in this wise :

196 A Pacific Coast Vacation

Centuries ago there lived in this valley one
Tutockahnulah and his tribe. One day while
out hunting, he met the spirit of the val-
ley, Tisayac. From that moment he . knew
no peace. He neglected his people and
spent his time in dreaming of lovely Tisayac.
She was fair, her skin was white and the sun
had kissed her hair to a golden brown. Her
eyes reflected heaven's own blue. Her silvery
speech like a bird's song led him to her, but
when he opened his eyes she vanished into the
clouds.

The beautiful YoSemite valley being ne-
glected by Tutockahnulah, became a desert and
a waste. When Tisayac returned she wept at
the sight of her beloved valley. On the dome
of a mighty rock she knelt and prayed the Good
Manitou to restore the valley. In answer to her
prayer the Great Spirit spread the floor of the
valley with green and smiting the mountains
broke a channel for the melting ice and snow.
The waters went leaping down and formed a
lake. The birds again sang and the flowers
bloomed. The people returned and gave the
name Tisayac to the great rock where she
had knelt.

MERCED RIVER, YOSEMITE VALLEY,

Yosemite 197

When the chief came home and learned that
Tisayac had returned to the valley his love
grew stronger day by day. One morning he
climbed to the crest of a rock that towers three
thousand feet above the valley and carved his
likeness on it that his memory might live for-
ever among his people. There is to this day a
face on this rock, but whether carved there by
the hand of man or by nature in some of her
wild moods, remains a mystery.

Resting at the foot of the Bridal Veil Falls,
one evening Tutockahnulah saw a rainbow
arching around the form of Tisayac. She beck-
oned him to follow her. With a wild cry he
sprang into the water and disappeared with
Tisayac. Two rainbows now instead of one
tremble over the falling water.

At the upper end of the valley stands a giant
monolith two hundred feet in height, called by
the Indians, Hummoo, the Lost Arrow.

Many thousands of snows ago before the
foot of white man had trod these romantic
wilds there dwelt in this valley the Ahwahnes,
the fairest of whose daughters was Teeheeneh.
Her hair, black as the raven's wing, unlike that
of her sisters, fell in ripples below her slender

198 A Pacific Coast Vacation

waist. Her sun-kissed cheeks and teeth like
pearls added beauty to a form graceful as that
of a young gazelle.

Kossookah, the bravest and handsomest war-
rior of his tribe, came a wooing the beautiful
princess, wooed and won her.

All that delightful summer time these two,
favored of the gods, rambled over the moun-
tains.

The wild torrents sang of the love of Kos-
sookah, the brave, for Teeneeneh, the beautiful.
The river murmured it; the lonely mountains
echoed the refrain; the very leaves of the
trees whispered it.; the plumy children of the air
gossiped about it, while each sun of the starry
sky repeated the story,

Time sped on golden wings, the mountains
took on autumn tints, winter was approaching.
Every member of the tribe lent a hand to assist
in building a wigwam for the fair princess and
her knight.

The nuptials were to be celebrated with many
ceremonies and a great feast. Teeheeneh as-
sisted by her companions would grind the
acorns into flour for the wedding cakes and
gather nuts, herbs and autumn leaves with
which to garnish and 'decorate the tables; while

YOSEMITE FALLS.

Yosemite 199

Kossookah with the chosen hunters of his tribe
would scale the cliffs or climb the walls of the
canon to the mountain fastness in search of
game.

The primitive home is completed. Kos-
sookah and his braves depart. At set of sun he
wrill repair to the head of the YoSemite falls
and report the success of the hunt to Teeheeneh
who would climb the rocks to the foot of the
falls to receive it.

The messenger was to be an arrow to which
Kossookah would attach feathers of the grouse.
From his strong bow he would speed it far out
that Teeheeneh might see it, watch for its fall-
ing, recover it and read the message.

The day was propitious. Seldom did an ar-
row miss its mark. Evening came and the
hunters had more game than they could carry
down in one trip.

Long ago in another clime Plautus said,
" whom the gods love die young. "

Kossookah, proud of his success, repaired to
the edge of the cliff beyond the falls, prepared
the arrow, set it against the string of buffalo
hide, stepped foward, when the cliff began to
tremble and went down, carrying the brave
Kossookah with it.

2OO A Pacific Coast Vacation

Long and lovingly did Teeheeneh wait for
the signal. Night wrapped the mountains in
gloom, but still Teeheeneh waited and won-
dered. Could Kossookah be dead? Had the
chase led him so far away that he could not
return in time to keep his word to Teeheeneh?
He might even now be coming down the In-
dian canon.

This new thought lent hope, and hope wings
to the flying feet of Teeheeneh. From rock to
rock, from ledge to ledge she sped with tireless
feet, escaping many perils she reached the foot
of the cliff.

Finding no trace of Kossookah she paced the
sands all the long weary night, hoping against
hope that every hour would bring some tidings
of her beloved.

The pain at her heart increased with the
hours, as she sang in the low soft voice of her
race a passionate love song. The gray dawn
found her still pacing the sands.

Now, like a deer she springs over the rocks
and up the steep ascent to the spot from
wrhence the signal arrow was to wing its way to
her feet.

Ah, there were tracks in the sand, his tracks,
but her call was answered only by the echo of

EL CAPITAN.

Yosemite 201

her own sad voice. A new fracture marked a
recent cleavage in the rocks. Could it be, Oh,
Great Spirit could it be that her beloved had
gone down with the rocks and perished. Her
heart was almost stilled with agonizing fear.
She faltered a moment only. Gathering
courage she leaned over the edge of the cliff.
There, stilled in death, lay the form of Kossoo-
kah, in a hollow at the base of the monolith.

The shock had cleared her mind. Hastily
and with steady hands now she builds a signal
fire on the rocky cliff. The fire by its intensity
interpreted in the light of Indian signal fires,
calls for aid in distress. Slowly the hours
drag by. At last help arrives. Young saplings
of tamarack are lashed together, end to end,
with thongs of deer skin. When all is ready
Teeheeneh springs forward and begs that no
hands save hers shall touch her beloved dead.
Slowly strong hands lower her to the side of the
prostrate form of Kossookah.

Kissing the pale lips of the dead warrior
Teeheeneh unbinds the deer thongs from about
her own body. Silently and deftly she winds
them about the prostrate form of Kossookah.
At a signal from Teeheeneh the lifeless body
is drawn up. Again the improvised rope is

202 A Pacific Coast Vacation

lowered. Teeheeneh nervously clutches the
pole, puts her foot in the rawhide loop and
waves her hand as a signal to be drawn up.

Long and silently she gazes into the once love
lit eyes of her dead hero. Her slight body
sways and trembles like a reed swept by the
wintry wind. Still silent, she sinks quivering
on the bosom of her beloved. Gently they raise
her, but her heart had broken and her soul
taken its flight.

The fateful arrow was never found. The
Indians say that it was spirited away by Tee-
heeneh and Kossookah and kept by them as
a memento of their plighted troth and the close
of their life on earth.

On gossamer floats, their souls were carried,
by unseen hands over the mountains to the
Elysian Plains beyond, \vhere there are no pit-
falls and no broken hearts.

Hummoo, the Lost Arrow, still stands, a
monument to the brave Kossookah.

See. " In The Heart of the Sierras," by J. M. Hutch-
ings. Mr. Hutchings lived twenty-five years in the Yo-
Semite Valley and knows this, the most beautiful, wild,
and romantic spot on the American Continent, in all its
varying moods of summer calm and wintry storm, and
writes of it with a loving and sympathetic touch.

BRIDAL VEIL FALLS AND THE THREE BROTHERS (SOLID ROCK).

Yosemite 203

Of all the beautiful places in the world for a
schoolhouse, surely " The Valley " is the most
beautiful. One rarely hears YoSemite on the
coast. It is always with a lingering caress in
the voice, " The Valley/' A dainty little white
schoolhouse stands in a grove on the border of
a glade. Here school is in session six months
of every summer. The valley is only seven
miles long and one and a half miles in width
at its widest point.

There are usually only five or six children of
school age in the valley, but in the spring and
summer people come into the valley to spend the
summer. Many camp while others live at the
hotel and in cottages. In many instances their
children have left their home school before its
close, and in order to make their grades for the
ensuing year, attend " The Valley School."

Here the student of botany may find dainty
asters, tiny wild peas, larkspur, monkey flow-
ers, great ferns, the leaves two or three feet
long; wild poppies, delicate sunflowers, purple
gilias and broad faced primroses. Fiery cas-
tillejas lend color to gray rocks and shady
nooks.

Stately pines, silver firs and graceful tama-

204 A Pacific Coast Vacation

racks stand massy, tall and dark, make a land-
scape Mercury himself might pause to behold,
no matter how urgent his errand.

The Manzanita trees are now loaded with fruit.
Manzanita is Spanish for little apple. The
fruit of the tree is a perfect apple about the size
of a gooseberry. Leather wood, a strange
shrub naked as to leaves but abloom with bright
yellow blossoms grows up in the mountains.

For the student of zoology there are the bears
which have their dens in the rocks a short dis-
tance from the school. Wild deer and lion
roam the mountains, while trout disport them-
selves in the Merced river near by.

The student of astronomy may see the sun
rise five times every morning, and the White
Fire Maiden, by mortals called the moon, lights
up YoSemite falls and the north wall of the val-
ley long before she appears in the blue sea
above.

The student in trigonometry will easily find
a summer's work, the geologist a life-time
study, while the anthropologist will be inter-
ested in the few Indians who inhabit the valley.

The valley is not without its early history
when white man and Indian fought for su-
premacy.

&AML

MIRROR LAKE, SLEEPING WATER.

Yosemite 205

One of the brightest pupils in the primary
class is a little Indian girl. This daughter of
the red man reads well and is very proud of
her accomplishment. She learned the multi-
plication table before the other members of her
class, but does not apply it so readily.

" Tempus Fugit," we bid farewell to Yo-
Semite, lovely vale, and take the trail over the
mountains. The hour was morning's prime.

Up we go three thousand feet, mules, guides
and tourists, over a narrow trail that runs along
the rocky ledge of the gorge. The purple at-
mosphere hangs like a veil over the wild canon
down which sweeps the Merced river, dashing
and sparkling over rocks, tumbling over preci-
pices or placidly flowing over its smooth rock
bed.

Far above a red flame swept and we caught
the odor of Calypso's fire of cedar wood. The
rising smoke mingled with the blue haze above,
wrhile the fire swept on, leaving only the black-
ened, charred remains of the once green forest
to tell the tale.

Naiads danced in the sunny water and once
methought I heard the soft, low strains of a
flute played by a faun in the cool shadows of
the trees which overhang the river's brink.

206 A Pacific Coast Vacation

Not a faun did we see, however, hut we met
a fool, forsooth, a motley, merry fool. This fool
had a silken scarf draped about his foolish head
to ward off the warm glances of Old Sol as he
peered down the gorge to see what the fool
was about. He tripped lightly along, did this
merry fool, slipping past the sturdy little mules
and their riders on the trail so narrow that one
foot of the rider hung over the gorge below,
so narrow in many places that one misstep of
the faithful little beast meant death to himself
and his rider. Past the forty tourists went this
untiring fool, frightening the animals and
alarming their riders with his strange head-
dress.

Where were the guides? Right there say-
ing things about the fool, quieting the animals
and calming the fears of their riders.

When this remarkably agile fool had reached
the head of the caravan, down he would drop in
the shade of a tree, his feet dangling in the dust
of the trail, his Turkish headdress fluttering in
the breeze, again causing the weary climbers
to pause. Not every animal paused to look at
the fool, the older ones were wiser.

The blue sky, the odor of the pines and the
falling, gurgling, murmuring water lent an

YOSEMITE FALLS, SHOWING FLOOR OF THE VALLEY.

Yosemite 207

enchantment to the air, which made us forget
the fool, but for a moment only. Here he came
again. Untiringly he followed us to the sum-
mit of the mountains, eight thousand feet above
the sea, where the soft ambient soothes like a
benediction, and the soul uplifts in prayer.

As these high altitudes make many people
ill we were advised to carry with us a bit of the
joyful. Arrived at the summit a dainty flask
slipped from the folds of a lady's gown and fell
to the earth with a thud. One of the guides
picked it up and gravely presented it to the
owner with the remark, " Madam, you have
lost something valuable."

As we stood looking down through the blue
mist into the YoSemite below us — a landscape
that would have delighted the heart and eye of
a Homer — a quaint old lady who had braved
the trail that she might view the valley from
glacial point, exclaimed :

"It's lovely, ain't it? Heaven don't need
to be no purtier and I don't reckon it is, do
you? Purty name, too, but I never kin re-
member whether it's Yo-se-mite or Yu-summit.

A personally conducted party arrived just
ahead of us. Mr. Personally, as we dubbed the
conductor, was a gentleman, so he informed us,

208 A Pacific Coast Vacation

of many qualities. His voice was loud and
commanding, he was exceedingly voluble, and
from the manner in which he hurried his party
about I should say that he was a man of much
energy.

He came flying into the ladies' private bou-
doir regardless of the confusion of shirt waists,
ties, collars and riding habits that were flying
through the air, commanding the ladies of his
party to hasten to the dining-room for
luncheon.

That repast served, Mr. Personally Con-
ductor ordered up the stages which were in
waiting to take us down the mountains on the
other side. After ordering everyone else to
stand back he ordered his party to " climb in,"
which they meekly did.

We sat under a clump of silver firs thor-
oughly enjoying the scene and calm in the con-
sciousness that as the transportation company
had carried us to the top of the mountains it
was in duty bound to carry us clown, either by
stage coach, mule back or by rope and tackle,
over the rocky ledge and drop us three thou-
sand feet to the valley below.

Two coaches were filled with " personally
conducted " when the third drove up to the ve-

SUNRISE IN YOSEMITE VALLEY.

Yosemite 209

randa. Mr. Personally not being in sight the
driver requested us to take seats in the coach,
as it was growing late and time we were off.

A brilliant man of our party, a New York
lawyer, had just taken a seat by the driver,
when that remarkable conductor appeared and
sprang into the seat between them, pushing at
Mr. Lawyer and calling lustily for Dr. Bluker,
who was a member of his party. The doctor
responded and grabbed our lawyer friend by the
leg, attempting to pull him down.

Mr. Lawyer turned to Mr. Personally, say-
ing, " I don't know who you are sir, but — "

" I am a gentleman, sir/' hastily replied the
conductor.

" Ah," exclaimed the lawyer at this astonish-
ing bit of news, " I am always glad to meet a
gentleman/' and at his wife's solicitation
bowed gracefully, relinquishing the seat to Dr.
Bluker, a college president who for the moment
might have been taken for Sitting Bull, chief
of the Sioux.

Ah, good people,

" A chiel's amang you taking notes,
And, faith, he'll prent it."

CHAPTER XVI

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

THE descent lay through groves of pine and
cedar, beds of beautiful flowers, grassy glades,
mountain brooks, tiny lakes, springs of ice cold
water, and acres and acres of azaleas.

In the center of a green glade lay a big brown
bowlder surrounded by flowers. Just under
the side of this bowlder was a spring of ice cold
water.

Just as the sun was sliding down the western
horizon beyond the snow-capped peaks we ar-
rived again in Wawona. valley, where the
evening was spent in telling stories and relating
adventures.

" When in London recently/' said our
lawyer friend, " Chauncey Depew told this
story :

" At a hotel where he was dining the wait-
ress said to a young man, ' We have blackberry
pie, peach pie, plum pie, strawberry pie and cus-
tard pie.'

Southern California 2 1 1

" ' Bring me some plum pie and some peach
pie, yes, and I'll take some blackberry pie/
As the waitress turned to fill the order the
young man called her back, ' You may bring
me some strawberry pie, too.'

" ' What's the matter with the custard pie? '
inquired she.

" The next morning Mr. Depew met a young
Englishman on the street, who complimented
him on his speech, saying that he really liked it
very, very much, you know, but he would like
to ask him one question, ' What was the matter
with the custard pie ? '

When the laugh had subsided a young lady
in a pink shirt waist leaned forward in her
chair, and looking earnestly at the lawyer,
softly inquired, " Well, what was? "

In the laugh which followed, the English-
man's stupidity was lost sight of in astonish-
ment at that of the American girl.

" Excuse me," said a well dressed lady to me
one morning at the hotel in Wawona, " I am
a little hazy on my geography, but what I want
to know is this — if I go to Denver will I be in
Colorado?"

After a week's fishing, dreaming and rest-
ing in this beautiful valley, we returned to the
coast.

212 A Pacific Coast Vacation

All up and down the Pacific coast as well as
the islands of the sea are wonderful floating
gardens. These gardens are composed of
kelp, which attached to the bottom and to the
rocks, grows from fifty to one hundred feet
long, throwing out broad leaves and balloon-
like air bulbs which support them. A perfect
forest of broad green leaves rise upward, pre-
senting a sharp contrast to the blue water in
which they grow. Gracefully turning with
every movement of the water they are among
the most strikingly beautiful objects of salt
sea. When near the shore these huge plants
assume an upright position and become floating
gardens in very truth, through which vessels
plow with much difficulty.

The entrance to the bay at Santa Barbara
is a perfect maze of floating sea-weed. The
leaves are covered with patches of color, repre-
senting parasitic animals, or plants, greens,
reds, purples and yellows, a perfect maze of
color.

Delicate sea anemones looking exactly like
their namesakes on land. The slightest noise
causes them to close up, withdrawing their ten-
tacles, and presently blooming out again.

Here are tiny plant-like animals growing in

Southern California 213

shrub like forms. Wonderful jellyfish, too,
fill the ocean at night with a phosphorescent
light.

In place of birds and insects in a sea garden
we find shell animals, crabs and fishes clinging
to the leaves. Along comes a big octopus
throwing out his eight sucker-lined arms in
search of food. Disturbed, he throws out an
inky fluid, and r while you are searching the
black hole for him, he slips away. Yonder
comes a nautilus holding his shell high over his
head, crawling lazily along. Black-hued echni,
bristling with pins and needles which, waving
to and fro, ward off their enemies. Fish of
all sorts and sizes inhabit the sea garden.
The beautiful gold and silver fishes gliding in
and out remind one of the birds flitting from
tree to tree. In comes a big fish, the king of the
bass, and the " small fry " scatter right and left.
At night these strange gardens are aglow with
phosphorescent lights.

Los Angeles has been having a succession of
earthquakes.

The houses in San Francisco as well as other
coast towns are built to withstand earthquake
shocks. On this account very few brick are
used. An earthquake hotel is advertised. In

214 A Pacific Coast Vacation

this city, too, one may eat Pasteurized ice-
cream without fear of the deadly ptomain.

An orange, as every one knows, is a difficult
fruit to eat gracefully, but I've learned how to
do it in this land of the citron. A gentleman
assured me that the only proper place to eat an
orange was in the bathtub.

Up and down the length of this coast I've
not been able to get a decent lemonade. Very
few places serve that drink at all. Drinks
there are plenty, but no lemonade. Now I know
what those warnings mean which hang up in
every stateroom on the steamers : " Passengers
strictly prohibited from getting into bed with
their boots on."

California is rich in stories of her early days.
Just east of San Francisco lies a narrow valley
bordering on the bay of San Pablo. The first
white man to enter this valley was one Miguel
and his wife, who named it El Hambre (Hun-
ger) valley.

Miguel built an adobe hut and planted a gar-
den. Later he started to San Francisco, for
supplies. Madam Miguel remained at home to
tend the garden. Miguel would return in three
weeks and all would be well.

Time passed slowly to the lonely woman.

Southern California 215

When the three weeks had passed Emilia
packed a burro and started out on the trail
which her husband had taken. At night she
tethered the burro and rolled in her blanket
slept by the roadside. Dawn saw her on the
trail. The third day her burro neighed and
was answered by a donkey which proved to be
that of Miguel. Hurrying on she found her
husband lying on the roadside, dead. She re-
mained there until the sun set, then covered him
with a blanket and returned home.

Later some traders wandering through the
valley found her skeleton in the garden. The
adobe still stands in the now new town of
Martinez.

Dick Brown, miner of Misery Hill, was a
sort of recluse, who never made any friends
among the miners of the Eldorado of the west.

One day while out prospecting, a landslide
carried him down the valley and buried him be-
neath it. His body was recovered and buried,
but his ghost walked nightly at the foot of the
old shaft.

A lazy, seemingly good-for-nothing sort of a
fellow, Wilson by name, began work in
Brown's mine. It was a good mine and paid
Wilson well until some one else began working

2 1 6 A Pacific Coast Vacation

it. Every morning there was evidence that
some one had been at work during the night.

One night Wilson loaded his rifle and waited
for his nightly intruder. Hearing a noise he
started to follow it up.

.What was that on yonder tree, which glowed
with a phosphorescent light? Wilson crept
nearer. There, tacked on a big tree, was a
notice, " D. B. his mine. Hands off."

A moment later the notice was gone.
As he passed on he heard the water
flowing through the sluice and the sound of a
pick in the gravel. There stood Dick Brown.
Wilson raised his rifle and fired. A yell, and
the ghost of Dick Brown came flying after him
as he ran down the hill.

The next morning a pick and shovel were
found by the roadside bearing the initials
" D. B." cut on the handle of each. Wilson de-
serted the claim, but the sluice on Misery Hill
ran on for many years.

CHAPTER XVII

HERE AND THERE ON THE COAST.

LEAVING San Francisco, a sail of twenty-
five miles brings us to the grimly fortified island
of Alcatraz, the watch dog of the Golden Gate.

Forty miles inland lies the beautiful Napa
Valley. Farm houses and villages dot the
landscape. Orchards, vineyards and fields of
waving grain heighten the natural beauty of
this Rasselas Valley, rich in groves of oak trees
from which depend festoons of mistletoe,
meadows and running brooks.

At the head of this valley stands Mount St.
Helena, once a center of volcanic action. Was-
nossensky, the Russian naturalist ascended to
its summit in 1841, and named it in honor of
his empress, leaving on the summit a copper
plate bearing the name of himself and his
companion.

The Russians, with a view to commercial
and political aggrandisement, did a great deal

27.7

2i 8 A Pacific Coast Vacation

of exploring in California in the early days of
her history.

By stage we travel through the Napa Valley
to the geyser fields. On either hand are groves
of redwood trees, cousins of the Giant Se-
quoias. In the springtime the odor of the
buckeye fills the delicious morning air, just now
the handsome eschscholtzias, commonly called
the California poppy, brighten the meadows.
Here and there lichen stained rocks lend a
deeper tone to the landscape.

Through this valley of strange wild beauty
we arrive at the Devil's Canon. The nomen-
clature of this weird place is something auda-
cious and one wishes that he might change it.
Here the hero of the canon has his kitchen, his
soup bowl, his punch bowl, and his ink pot. In
this spring you might dip your pen and write
tales of magic that would rival those of India.

Here, one dreary night, a lonely discouraged
miner who had lost his way, sat in meditation,
when presently a strangely clad figure ap-
proached him. The dark face wore a sinister
expression, black eyes sparkled under villainous
brows.

" Ha, ha, ha," laughed the stranger when he
discovered the miner.

Here and There on the Coast 219

" What would'st thou? Riches? Sign here
and they are thine, or thou may'st toss me into
yon caldron."

Flinging aside the long black cloak that en-
veloped his figure he stood forth, his scarlet
robes gleaming a fiery red in the black night.

" Sign here/' and dipping his fire tipped pen
into the ink pot he thrust it into the hand of the
astonished miner, presenting a scroll of parch-
ment for the signature.

" Ha, ha, ha/' came in tones diabolical, as the
fortune hunter seized the pen in his eager grasp.
Knowing better how to wield the pick than the
pen he seized the scroll and — made the sign of
the cross.

His Satanic Majesty gave an unearthly yell,
seized the pen and scroll, and disappeared leav-
ing his ink-pot behind.

The prevailing rocks are metamorphic, sand-
stone, silicious slates and serpentine. The
stratification dips sharply to the bed of Pluton
Creek.

There are no spouting geysers here, only
bubbling springs, but springs of beauty and in-
terest. Here lies one, its waters a creamy
white, and yonder another whose waters are
deeply tinged with sulphur, while those of its

220 A Pacific Coast Vacation

neighbor are as black as the contents of that
bottle the undaunted Luther flung at the head
of his Satanic Majesty on that memorable day.

The waters of these springs boil over and
mingle as they flow away. Steam jets hiss and
sputter continually. Of the many strange
springs, pools and caverns, the Witch's Caldron
is perhaps the most remarkable. A very pit of
Acheron, this huge cavern in the solid rock,
seventy feet in diameter, is filled to an unknown
depth with a thick inky fluid, that boils and
surges incessantly. The waters of these springs,
rich in sulphur, iron, lime and magnesia are
said to rival in medicinal qualities those of all
the famous German Spas.

The geysers are $ue to both chemical and
volcanic action; to water percolating down
through the fissures of the rocks until it comes
in contact with the heated mass of hot lava; and
to water percolating through the mineral de-
posits.

Suffice it to say that you have not seen Cali-
fornia until you have seen the Napa Valley,
and taken the trail to Mount St. Helena and the
geyser fields.

The very air of this delightful country is
rife with bear stories. Stories in which the

Here and There on the Coast 221

bear quite as often as the hunter comes off
victor.

A cowboy, newly arrived in California, went
out on a bear hunt. He went alone. He wanted
to kill a grizzly.

He soon found his bear and lassoed him, but
Bruin, contrary to his usual custom of showing
fight, took a header down a canon, horse and
rider in full pursuit.

Upon nearing the foot of the ravine the bear
fell down. The horse fell down and the man
tumbled down on top of the grizzly which so
frightened him that when the three untangled
themselves he set off up the canon, and the man
let him go. Glad, glad to the heart that he was
gone.

Assyria had her winged bull, Lucerne has
her lion, and California has her grizzly.

The grizzly stands for California, and only
awaits some future Thorwaldsen to perpetu-
ate him on the walls of his own rock-ribbed
canon.

The Indians of California were possessed of
many strange superstitions when the Francis-
can Fathers established missions among them.

The Fathers called it " devil worship," but
to the simple childlike mind of these primitive

222 A Pacific Coast Vacation

people it was a sort of hero worship, and the
wild child worshiped on despite the Fathers.

The worship of a god known as Kooksuy
was one to which the Indians held with great
tenacity. The monks had forbidden the wor-
ship of this deity, so Kooksuy had to be wor-
shiped in secret.

A lonely, unfrequented place in the moun-
tains was chosen, and a stone altar was raised
to Kooksuy. This consisted of a pile of flat
stones five or six feet in height.

It was the duty of every worshipper to toss
something onto the altar as an act of homage.
This act was called " poorish."

A Kooksuy altar was a curious affair. The
foundation of stone was frequently hidden
under a mass of beads, feathers and shells.
Even garments and food found their way to the
throne of this strange deity. Thus the altar
continued to rise for no Indian would dare
touch a " poorish " offering.

The priests destroyed the altars and punished
the worshipers, but that did not destroy their
faith in their god.

At the missions every Indian retired when
the evening bell rang. When the good alcalde
made his rounds they had counted their beads

Here and There on the Coast 223

and shut their eyes. Ten minutes later half
a dozen dusky forms might be seen creeping
stealthily along in the shadows of the buildings.
Arriving at the chosen spot a big fire was built
around which the faithful Indians danced call-
ing on their god in a series of weird whistles.

Kooksuy never failed to appear in the midst
of the fire in the form of a huge white dragon,
but with the destruction of his altars, the
neglect of his worshipers and fear of the white
man Kooksuy appeared less frequently and
finally his visits ceased entirely.

According to the Indians the Great Manitou
threw up the Sierra Nevada range with his own
hands. Then he broke away the hills at the
foot of the lake and the waters drained into the
sea through the Golden Gate.

The clouds rested on the water and the set-
ting sun lit up the Golden Gate with the glory
of the sea as we steamed across the bay and
bade adieu to the land of Pomona and her cit-
ron groves.

CHAPTER XVIII

WALLA WALLA VALLEY

WALLA WALLA is so named from its abun-
dant supply of water. Many little streams run
over the surface and many more under ground.
This valley is noted for the richness of its soil,
which is decomposed lava, and its wonderful
climate. This delightful climate is shorn of its
harshness by the magical breath of the Chinook
wind.

The principal crop here is wheat. A Walla
Walla ranchman never thinks of planting any-
thing else. The soil is so easy of cultivation
that all he needs to do is to plow the ground,
sow the wheat and go fishing until it is ready
to harvest. Wheat brings him wealth and
prosperity.

Every year one-half of a ranch is allowed to
lie fallow, but an Illinois farmer would rotate
crops instead. The fallow fields, however, are
kept perfectly clean and free from weeds.
224

Walla Walla Valley 225

During the rainy season the soil, which is
rich in potash and phosphoric acid, stores up
moisture sufficient to mature the wheat. Only
three pecks of wheat are sown to the acre, as
the grain stools very much.

The average farm contains six hundred
acres, but there are many ranches of from a
thousand to fifteen hundred acres.

For cutting the grain the old-fashioned
header is used, also the ordinary reaper and
binder, but the combined harvester and thresher
is the king of reapers. It is drawn by from
twenty-five to thirty mules, cuts the grain,
threshes it, sacks it, and dumps it on the ground
ready for shipment.

Wheat averages from twenty to thirty
bushels to the acre. Some years the average
is much higher. In 1898 wheat went sixty
bushels to the acre.

The price of land runs from thirty dollars to
sixty dollars per acre. Comfortable homes and
green orchards dot the landscape. The or-
chards, however, must be irrigated. The Blue
mountains supply plenty of water for this pur-
pose.

At the experiment stations established

226 A Pacific Coast Vacation

throughout the semi-arid regions of the west,
investigation of the excessive alkali in the soil
is being carried on.

In many regions* of California and Utah
large tracts of irrigated land are practically
non-productive because of the presence of an
excess of alkali. Investigation has proven that
this is due to excessive irrigation. When
water is applied to the soil it brings to the sur-
face when it rises, the salts.

In seeking a remedy for this evil the ex-
periment stations have demonstrated that in
most instances crops do not require nearly so
much water as is usually applied to them.
Working along practical lines in the solution of
this, to the West, great problem, the stations
hope eventually to show just what quantity
of water a given crop in a given locality re-
quires.

The establishment of this truth will save
much land now under ditch and-extend the area
of irrigation by demonstrating that more land
can be supplied with water from the available
supply.

In Montana, Idaho, Washington and the
semi-arid districts of other states experiments
are being carried on in the line of forage plants.

Walla Walla Valley 227

In these states success has been quite satis-
factory with the cow pea, which is usually
planted with oats. Red clover flourishes as
well here as in the East.

Success in farming depends upon a thorough
knowledge of soil, climate and rainfall. The
farmers are coming to depend upon the experi-
ment stations for much of this knowledge.

Agriculture was early practiced in this val-
ley, the Walla Walla region proper being part
of the old Oregon country. The Hudson Bay
Company established posts at the junction of
the Walla Walla and Columbia rivers, at Fort
Vancouver on the Columbia river and at Fort
Colville in the Colville valley, north of the
present city of Spokane. With these people
agriculture and the fur trade went hand in hand.
In 1828 seven hundred bushels of wheat were
raised at Fort Vancouver and in 1829 seventy
acres were under cultivation at Fort Colville.

CHAPTER XIX

HISTORICAL REFERENCES

JUST as a Bede Bible and a " quart of seed
wheat " saved the British Isles to Christianity ;
so " the Book " and another " quart of seed
wheat " carried in by the Reverend Spalding,
saved Oregon to the United States, notwith-
standing the Russian Bear, the British Lion
and the bull of Alexander the VI. in which he
delivered over all North America to Spain.

" Good old times those were when kings
thrust their hands into the New World, as
children do theirs into a grab bag at a fair, and
drew out a river four thousand miles long, or an
ocean, or a tract of wild land ten or fifteen
times the size of England."

The king of Spain sold Louisiana to France
for money to buy his daughter a wedding
present and for one brief while France had
hopes of planting her lilies in the Walla Walla
Valley. France, however, had met her Water-
loo in America, on the Plains of Abraham.
228

Historical References 229

Then came England denying the validity of
the old Franco-Spanish title under which we
claimed the Oregon country, but the same
policy that lost to Great Britain her thirteen
colonies, lost to her this princely domain.

American and English settlements contrasted
strangely. The one emigrant came with his
traps and snares, the other with his plow and
quart of seed wheat. The one came for the
fortune which he might carry out of the
country, the other to make a home for himself
and his children. So, the English trapper with
his snares and the Indian with his pogamoggan
retreated before the advance of American
civilization.

In 1836 Mrs. Whitman, wife of Dr. Whit-
man, wrote from Fort Vancouver that the
Hudson Bay Co. had that year four thousand
bushels of wheat, four thousand bushels of
peas and fifteen hundred bushels of oats and
barley, besides many root vegetables, also poul-
try, cattle, hogs and sheep.

The metropolis of the valley is Walla Walla.
It is a well-built town having a population of
several thousand. Many of the stores and bus-
iness blocks are of brick. Its streets are wide.
In the suburbs is a military post, also a college

230 A Pacific Coast Vacation

established by the Congregational church in
honor of Dr. Marcus Whitman, the well known
missionary who was massacred at his mission
near Walla Walla in 1847. So died the brave,
patriotic Whitman.

In 1813 England, basing her claims on
Drake's discoveries, captured Astoria and for
years kept her hands on the Oregon country,
to be thwarted at last by one brave American.

The story of Marcus Whitman's life should
be enshrined in the heart of every school-boy in
America.

From the busy thriving city of Spokane, the
center of the agriculture empire of the Pacific
Coast, to Missouli along the headwaters of the
Columbia is a most interesting journey. High
above, the grim Cascades rear their shaggy
heads. Magnificent pines lift their crested
heads skyward. The Columbia, " rock-ribbed
and mighty," sweeps on, now placidly, now
whirling and eddying, tossing its waters up in
foamy spray, now breaking into white cascades,
beautiful as Schauffhausen on the noble Rhine.
The rugged rocks along the shore are hidden
by festoons of grape and wild honeysuckle
vines, while the bright salmon berry adds a
touch of color.

Historical References 231

Here is a bit of western fiction, a study in ev-
olution that would interest a Haeckel. These
berries falling into the water float away into
brown pools and shady nooks and there change
into the red fish known as salmon.

The gentleman who told me this wonderful
tale of magic assured me that it was true, and
that the Fish Commission had made a report of
it. Like the tale of the banshee, however, he
had never seen it but he knew people who had.

Scientific errors should be corrected, so I
will give you the facts about the salmon trout.
It was that mischievous god Loke, who to es-
cape the vengeance of Thor hid himself in a
cave, but when he heard the thundering voice
of that noble god,

" He changed himself into a salmon trout
And leaped in a fright in the Glommen."

Slippery as a salmon is a common adage in
Norseland.

The most beautiful spot in this region is
Lake Pend d'Oreille. The scenery of this
lovely lake rivals that of Lake George. Its
blue waters bathe the brown feet of rugger
mountains.

It is early morning on Lake Pend d'Oreille;

232 A Pacific Coast Vacation

the mountain breeze, the gentle swish of the
water as it laps the shore, the white,
graceful-moving sail-boat all entice you for
a day's fishing. Tired of this sport you
sail over and rest under the wonderful Blue
Slide. The mountain bordering on the lake at
this point has crumbled away, sending down its
bowlders into the lake. From the boat you look
up a smooth incline plane two thousand feet,
above which rises the precipice itself another
thousand feet. The slide is covered with a pale
blue clay, while the precipice itself is a mix-
ture of granite and clay tinged with iron.
Large pines grow on the very edge of the preci-
pice.

The junction of Clear Water and the Snake
rivers in Idaho is a place of historic interest.
We are now in the country traversed by Lewis
and Clarke.

The history of the great Northwest is won-
derfully fascinating. The history of no part of
this great territory is more tragic than that of
Montana. Her savage tribes, her cosmopoli-
tan population called into existence by her fur
trade and mining industry, all combined to pro-
duce in Montana a peculiar phase of civiliza-
tion, but she has beaten dirks and bowie knives

ENTERING HELL GATE CANON.

Historical References 233

into plowshares and now follows the gentle arts
of peace. A magnificent mountain range, lovely
valley, beautiful river and a delicate, graceful
flower — Bitter Root. Bitter Root is the state
flower of Montana and lends its name to the
river, mountains and valley of its native heath,
growing most luxuriantly in Bitter Root val-
ley.

This valley is one of the most beautiful as
well as the most productive in the state. Ly-
ing at the eastern foot of the Bitter Root
Mountains it is shielded from the cold, west
winds. The climate is fine while the soil in
most places is rich and deep. Timothy and
clover grow luxuriantly. Baled hay brings
from seven to ten dollars per ton at the railroad
station. Dairy farming and poultry raising are
profitable industries. Butter sells at forty cents
per pound in the winter and twenty cents in the
summer. Eggs bring the same price. Butte,
Helena and other mining centers supply the
market for Bitter Root Valley.

Bitter Root orchards are immune from dis-
ease. The leas ophis has appeared but as yet
has done no injury. Bitter Root Mountains
were the stronghold of the Nez Perce Indians.

Hell Gate canon is one of the most pictur-

234 A Pacific Coast Vacation

esque in the Rocky Mountains. It is wild and
beautiful. Its fir-clad slopes rise thousands of
feet high. A lion steals stealthily along,
noiselessly as Fear herself, owl answers owl
from the tall trees, and soft shadows lend en-
chantment to the light of the pale moon that
hurries you along like Porphyro's poor guide
on the eve of St. Agnes, with agues in your
brain.

Deer Lodge lies in a beautiful valley, sun-
browned now, with just a hint of autumn's
grays and purples.

John Bozeman was a noted frontiersman in
the early days of Montana. His name is per-
petuated by Bozeman's pass, Bozeman's creek
and Bozeman city, all in Gallatan valley.
This valley, once the bloody battle-ground of
the Blackfeet, the Bannacks, the Crows and the
Nez Perce Indians is now one of the widest
known and best cultivated in the state.

Helena, the capital of Montana, is a thriving,
prosperous city. Through the Gate of the
Mountains we enter a little valley called Par-
adise. Like a beautiful dream this lovely val-
ley lies in the cold bosom of the rugged moun-
tains, which, looming high above, shield it from
the wintry blast.

LIBERTY CAP AND OLD FORT YELLOWSTONE.

Historical References 235

Mighty canons, rock-ribbed, gloomy and
dark, have been gouged out of the very hearts
of the cold, gray mountains that pierce the blue
of heaven. But this sun-lit vale, too fair for
the abode of man, lies just as nature left it, blue
canopied, the cool green grass and murmuring
Yellow Stone.

The Devil in a merry mood one day, coasted
down the mountain at Cinnebar, scorching
blood red a wide, smooth slide that would de-
light the daring heart of a tobogganist.

CHAPTER XX

YELLOWSTONE PARK

THE artist may paint you a bit of sky, a lit-
tle water, a few trees, and mayhap a bluebird
or a merry brown thrush, but can he paint the
gently moving restless air or the storm that
sweeps down the mountainside, the murmur,
the ripple, the roar of the river, the whir of the
bluebird's wing as it rises to flight, or the
thrush's song?

It is beyond the power of brush or pen to
paint the wilderness, the beauty, the weirclness,
the awful grandeur of this land of Malebolge,
sulphurous pits and boiling lakes, a fit dwelling
place for Minos, infernal judge; the elusive
beauty of a playing geyser, the iridescent
sparkle of the water as it leaps the rocky preci-
pice and pours down the mountain's great
throat, or the diabolical scene of the famous
Mud Geyser where, —

" Bellowing there groaned
A noise, as of a sea in tempest torn
236

HOTEL MAMMOTH, HOT SPRINGS, YELLOWSTONE PARK.

Yellowstone Park 237

By warring wings. The stormy blast of hell

With restless fury drives the spirits on,

Whirled round and dashed amain with sore annoy.

When arriving before the ruinous sweep,

There shrieks are heard, there lamentations, moans/'

With horrible groanings the thick sulphur-
ous mass is driven against the sides of the deep
crater.

" Wherefore delay in such a mournful place ?
' We came within the fosses deep, that moat
This region comfortless, the walls appeared
As they were framed in iron, we had made
Wide circuit ere we reached the place where loud
The mariner (guide) vehement cried
* Go forth, the entrance is here.' " — DANTE.

We had circled the Mammoth Hot Springs,
down a way by a ladder we entered the Devil's
kitchen. This is a defunct geyser. The way
was dark and the air hot as the heat penetrated
the walls from the Hot Springs. The water
of these springs is rich in minerals, copper, iron
and sulphur. As the water boils over and
evaporates it leaves deposits on the rims fret-
ting them with a delicate frost work of varied
and beautiful hues. Cream and salmon deepen-
ing into rich shades of red, brown, green and
yellow.

The Cleopatra Spring is one of the most
beautiful. Located on a mound forty feet high

238 A Pacific Coast Vacation

and covering an area of three-quarters of an
acre, the deep blue water, the sparkling white
basin with its pale yellow frost-fretted rim
rivals the touch of the artist's brush.

Just below the springs the broad level tract
in front of the United States barracks covers
a treacherous burnt-out area. We were stand-
ing on a veranda of the hotel observing the
maneuvers when one of the cavalry horses
broke through the thin crust. His rider recov-
ered him and they were off before the treacher-
ous ground gave way. A rope was brought
and the soldiers lowered one of their comrades,
who dropped thirty-five feet before he struck
a landing place. Investigation showed the en-
tire platte to be dangerously honeycombed.

Through the Golden Gate we enter King-
man's Pass. The stupendous walls of golden
yellow rock rise sheer hundreds of feet high on
either side.

Just as we turned a point in the road such
" Ohs " and " Ahs " as the Rustic Falls of the
Gardener River burst on our sight. The river
falls sixty feet into a series of shallow basins
of 'moss covered rock. To the sides of the
basin cling wavering ferns and delicate spray-
kissed flowers.

OLD FAITHFUL GEYSER, YELLOWSTONE PARK, JUST BEFORE
AN ERUPTION.

Yellowstone Park 239

The most wonderful mountain in the world
stands on the shore of Beaver Lake. A glass
mountain of pure jet black glass, rising sky-
ward in basalt like columns from one hundred
to two hundred and fifty feet. The black glass
streaked here and there with red and yellow
glistens in the sunshine as peak and pinnacle
catch, imprison and reflect the sun's rays.

Large blocks have become detached from
time to time forming a glass slide into the lake.
Obsidian is a species of lava. Pliny says
this glass was first found in Ethiopia, but
the only glass mountain in the world stands on
the shore of Beaver Lake. The Indians used
this glass for arrow heads and in making sharp-
edged tools.

The swampy, lily-padded margin of Beaver
Lake is haunted by wild geese. This lake is
the beaver's own. These industrious little
animals constructed it by damming up Green
Creek for a distance of two miles. Some thirty
dams sweep in graceful curves from side to
side each having a fall from two to six feet.

The geyser basins are places of unusual in-
terest and beauty. No scene in the park is
lovelier than these areas of bubbling pools, boil-
ing lakes and steaming geysers, at sunrise,

240 A Pacific Coast Vacation

when the columns of white steam, tinged to a
roseate hue by the rising sun, ascending against
the background of dark green pines. Pres-
ently,—

" There came o'er the perturbed waves
Loud-crashing, terrible, a sound that made
Either shore tremble, as if a wind
Impetuous, from conflicting vapors sprung,
That 'gainst some forest driving with all his might,
Plucks off the branches, beats them down, and hurls
Afar; then, onward passing proudly sweeps
His whirlwind rage, while beasts and shepherds fly.''

— DANTE.

Thus warned we moved away just as Old
Faithful shot his boiling waters skyward.

" Ask thou no more
Now 'gin rueful wailings to be heard.
The gloomy region shook so terribly
That yet with clammy dews chill my brow.
The sad earth gave a blast."

— DANTE.

And steam and water shot up a column
two hundred feet high. The Giant Geyser was
playing.

" We the circle crossed
To the next steep, arriving at a well
That boiling pours itself down a foss
Sluiced from its source."

— DANTE.

YELLOWSTONE LAKE.

OF

^/fORNlA^

Yellowstone Park 241

This well is the formidable Excelsior Geyser
which pours its waters into the Fire Hole River.

The Paint Pots are springs which boil in-
cessantly their pasty clay, which boiling over
hardens, building up a rim around the pot. In
one group of seventeen pots are as many differ-
ent colors.

The center pot is a pearl gray, while grouped
about it are smaller pots of various shades of
pink, gray, chocolate, yellow, red, lavender,
emerald and sapphire blues and white, mortar
thousands of years old that would make the
heart of a plasterer glad. Here is a plaster
which when hardened, whether by sun or fire,
never cracks.

Of a somewhat different character are the
chocolate jugs on the banks of the Fire Hole
River. These springs are rich in iron. The
sediment hardens as the water pours out, build-
ing up gradually a brown jug-like cone.

The Blue Mud Pot is quite as interesting as
the Paint Pots. Its circular basin is twenty
feet in diameter. The mud is about the con-
sistency of thick plaster. This mud pot pre-
sents a beautiful picture as the puffs of mud
burst with a thud-like noise giving off perfect
little rings which recede to the sides of the

242 A Pacific Coast Vacation

crater. This spring is strongly impregnated
with alum. In this vicinity is a spring of pure
alum water and several of sulphate of copper.

These springs are clear and deep, having
beautiful basins, the rims of which are lined
with incrustations of brilliant colors.

In a gloomy wood we came to the Devil's
frying pan, a shallow, hot, boiling spring which
sputters, sizzles and hisses equal to any old-
time, three legged skillet, sending out sulphur-
ous odors that would delight the nostrils of
Lucifer himself.

Hell's half acre is quite as interesting as its
name. Here in times gone by Excelsior Gey-
ser shook the earth.

One lovely morning we mounted to our seats
in the stage coach, the driver cracked his whip
over the heads of the leaders, six creamy white
horses pricked up their ears, sprang forward at
a gallop and we were off" to the Continental
Divide.

We had just crossed a glade where deer were
grazing when a hail storm, a mountain hail
storm, overtook us. In five minutes the ground
was white, the hail laying two inches deep, and
such hail, an Illinois hail storm is tame in com-
parison.

CAMPING ON THE SHORE OF LAKE YELLOWSTONE.

Yellowstone Park 243

The horses plunged forward, the hail was
left behind, and we paused on the Great Divide.
Down from this watershed the waters flow east
and west.

The lovely Lake Shoshone comes into view
and presently we are standing on its shore look-
ing down through its blue waters. The eleva-
tion of this lake is greater than that of its royal
neighbor, the Yellowstone.

This most lovely of all American lakes, the
Yellow Stone, is perched high in the very heart
of the mountains, its blue waters lapping the
base of cold, snow-capped peaks, rivals in
beauty the far famed Lake Maggiore.

On these beautiful shores fair Nausicaa
with her golden ball might have deigned to
tread the mazes of the ball-dance.

The elevation of this lake is marvelous for its
size. Drop Mount Washington, the highest
peak in the White Mountains, into the center of
it and the summit would be swept by a current
half a mile deep.

This lake affords royal sport. Here are the
most beautiful fish in the world, the rainbow
trout.

Through a pine-clad gorge flanked by high
bluffs the impetuous Yellowstone River makes

244 A Pacific Coast Vacation

its way until it leaps the great falls and plunges
down three hundred and fifty feet to the canon
below.

On the sides of the spray-washed walls grow
mosses and algae of every hue of green, ochre,
orange, brown, scarlet, saffron and red. On
rugged peaks are brown eagles' nests.

The Grand Canon of the Yellowstone,
would you describe this marvelous gorge, lan-
guage is inadequate, words are poor.

Would you paint it, on your palette place all
colors yet produced by the ingenuity of man.
Mix them with rainbow drops. The pale faced
moon will lend a shade, the stars another
and the sun still another as he drops
blood-red down through the mists of the sea.
Stir and mix with matchless skill until you have
of colors half a hundred and shades as many
more. Now boldly dash the stupendous wralls,
castles, pinnacles, turrets, columns, and mina-
rets where already they are gleaming a bright
vermilion as they from Vulcan's fiery fur-
nace issued long ago.

When you have these colors fixed let Phae-
thon drive down the gorge in his chariot of fire
leaving behind the gleam and the glow of it.

Here, the Sioux chiefs, crouching by their

PAINT POTS ON SHORE OF YELLOWSTONE LAKE.

Yellowstone Park 245

camp fires muttered their griefs and their woes.
Here Rain in the Face cried out in revenge,
revenge on the White chief with the Yellow
Hair.

Yonder lay Sitting Bull with his three
thousand warriors hidden in cleft and cave.
Into the fateful snare dashed the White chief
with his pitiful three hundred men. Like a
mountain torrent Sitting Bull and his braves
swept down upon that gallant band, and but one
was left to tell the story of the Little Big Horn,
but one to tell of the gallant stand of Custer and
his brave men.

Only two survived of all that noble band,
one, Curly, the half-breed scout, and the other,
" Comanche," the horse of Captain Keogh.
Comanche was found several miles from the
battle field with seven wounds. He recovered
and the secretary of war detailed a soldier as his
attendant.

Here, too, the Crow took revenge when
driven back by the white man. Here they peo-
pled the boiling, hissing springs and the steam-
ing geysers with evil spirits, while beyond the
mountains lay the Happy Hunting Ground.

A small remnant of this band gathered at the
head of the Grand Canon and there resolved

246 A Pacific Coast Vacation

with Spartan courage to die rather than be
removed to a distant land there to die of home-
sickness and longing for the blue sky and the
breath of the sweet air of their beloved moun-
tains.

They built a raft and set it afloat at the foot
of the Upper Falls feeling the peace and se-
curity that the mountains give, but they were
rudely awakened one morning by the sharp
crack of the white man's rifle, the soldiers were
upon them. Hastily boarding their raft they
pushed it out into mid-stream. The strong
current gathered the craft tossing it and pitch-
ing it onward on its foamy crest. The soldiers
gaze in wonder, forgetting to fire. On, on,
faster whirls that frail craft while above the
wild roar of the water floats the death song.

Beyond, yawns a chasm three hundred and
fifty feet deep, the death chant is lost amidst
the roar of the mighty torrent. The hardened
soldier shudders as that lone adventurous craft,
freighted with the remnant of a powerful peo-
ple, is gathered in the arms of that mighty
torrent, hurled over the brink and dashed to
pieces on the cruel rocks below, where the Maid
of the Mist washed white each red man's soul.

On June twenty-seventh last, word was tele-

GRAND CANON OF THE YELLOWSTONE.

Yellowstone Park 247

graphed over the country that a new geyser
had burst forth from an old crater about fifty
feet from the famous Fountain Geyser. The
eruption played from two hundred to two
hundred and fifty feet high.

Tired, stage tired, we were snug in comforts
and blankets and sound asleep one night in
August at the Fountain hotel, when about
twelve o'clock gongs sounded, bells rang and
porters went running about pounding on the
doors and crying, what seemed to our sleepy
imagination, " Fire/' but presently we heard
distinctly the words, the new geyser is play-
ing. " The new geyser is playing," went echo-
ing down the corridors.

In ten minutes every tourist was out, in all
sorts of costumes from blanket to full dress,
either shivering on the long veranda or hurry-
ing down to the basin to see the new geyser
play, and right royally he did it, too.

Upward into the black night shot a stu-
pendous column of water three hundred feet
high. The porters were the first to arrive and
playing their red calcium lights on the wonder-
ful body of falling water gave us a display of
fire and water that must be seen to be appre-
ciated. The now flaming vermilion column

248 A Pacific Coast Vacation

rose steadily upward, seemingly through the
red glare three hundred feet, the delicate, rose
colored steam rising much higher, swayed in
the breeze, now falling, now lifting, now float-
ing away into the black night a rosy cloud.

The hotel cat hurried to the scene of action
but lost his bearings and stood fascinated by
the magic scene, the hot spray falling about him
until some one picked him up and carried him
out of danger.

In the reception hall of this hotel an old
fashioned fireplace filled with glowing pine
logs sent out showers of welcoming sparks. A
big green back log sang again the anthem of the
wild storm-swept mountain forest, while out-
side the rain came down in torrents.

The most wonderful features of the Rocky
Mountains lie within the confines of Yellow-
stone Park. The world's oldest rocks, granite,
gneisse and basalt are found here. Later
dynamic action held sway and the region be-
came the center of mountain building on a
grand scale. Rocky beds tossed up and down.
Next came the reign of Vulcan. Fire held
sway. Volcanic materials overflowed the re-
gion. Next came the ice age, when glaciers

GIBBON RIVER FALLS.

Yellowstone Park 249

plowed down the mountain sides. Just now
the hydrothermal agents are most active.

After miles of mountain climbing and five
hundred more of staging in the heart of the
Rockies, through groves of pine firs, spruce
and cedar, along streams and lakes bordered by
aspen, willow and wild flowers, through glades
and glens, ravines and gorges, one begins to get
some idea of the vastness, ruggedness and
grandeur of the mountains and the delicacy of
the climate. One begins to understand how in
average summer temperature of sixty degrees
pinks, geraniums, orchids, mosses, roses and
lilies, alternately bathed in sunshine and snow,
bloom on, reaching a perfection beyond that of
our prairie flowers.

The mountain thistles are beautiful beyond
compare. The delicate purple blossoms are
born on slender stems, the dainty green leaves
touched with white, drooping gracefully, give
the plant more the appearance of an orchid than
of the common weed it is.

Over in Hayden valley roam fifty head of
buffalo, all that is left of that royal band, the
fine for killing one of which is five hundred
dollars. Deer and elk roam ravine and moun-

250 A Pacific Coast Vacation

tain side, sleek, fat fellows that make you glad
that they are under Uncle Sam's protection.
We passed a group of deer in a wooded ra-
vine, their smooth coats shining like satin in the
sunshine as they gazed at us out of pathetic
brown eyes that had something of the human in
them.

" I couldn't kill one of them innocent crea-
tures if the law permitted me," said the driver,
who was an old mountaineer and loved the
things of the mountains.

Now and then one sees a mountain lion. The
less noble game abound also, the fox, martin,
beaver, woodchuck and gopher. Ground squir-
rels run about the hotels and camps in search of
food. Under our window one evening three of
these little animals were having a tug of war
over a bread crust. The crust at last divided,
one lost his hold and the other two ran away
with the spoil.

The gray squirrels are very numerous, show-
ing little fear of the passer-by as they run
along playing tag or race up and down the
trunks of great trees.

The Rocky Mountain quail differs from our
own in being larger and having a crest on its
head.

Yellowstone Park 251

Both Black and Cinnamon bear haunt the vi-
cinities of the hotels and camps in search of
food. A big black fellow was pointed out to
us one morning who had stolen a ham from one
of the camps the night before. The ham had dis-
appeared and there stood Bruin waiting for a
chance to steal another. One of the men walked
up to him and gave him a slice of bacon, which
he took from his hands. When he had eaten it
he looked inquiringly about for more. This
time the meat was hung up in a tree. Bruin
sniffed the odor, located the bacon, climbed the
tree, knocked the meat down and came down
and ate it. Then he sat down on his haunches,
folding his paws and looking up at his new-
found friend as if asking for more.

At the Fountain hotel are two cubs, Micky
and Anna Rooney. They are very fond of
sugar. When offered any food they stand up
and reach out their paws for it or they will take
it out of your hand.

Micky is a happy rollicking fellow, but Anna
is more sedate, quick of temper and free in the
use of her paws when angry. When offended
she climbs to the top of her pole and sitting
down on the board nailed there refuses to come
down for anything less than a lump of sugar.

252 A Pacific Coast Vacation

As these bears are still mere babies they are
fed milk from a bottle. They stand up, clasp
the bottle in their paws and proceed to drink
the milk through a hole in the cork.

One evening something was wrong with
Micky's bottle. While the attendant was fix-
ing it Micky dropped on his haunches, folded
his paws across his chest, holding his head first
on one side then on the other, looking very wise
the while. The attendant being somewhat
slow, Micky dropped to the ground but never
once took his eyes off that bottle. While
Micky was waiting for his supper Anna had
finished hers and was thrusting her paws into
the pockets of the attendant in search of candy
and sugar.

At another hotel was a Bruin and her two ba-
bies. When these youngsters refused to enter
the bath tub provided for them the mother
would coax them to the edge of the tub, push
them in, hold them down and give them a good
scrub.

The National Park should be extended one
hundred miles farther south to the Black-Hole
country. The park game descends to the Black-
Hole during the winter where the hunters lay in

Yellowstone Park 253

wait for it. In this way park buffalo were •
nearly exterminated.

Of the natural wonders of the world our
country possesses namely : Niagara, Yellow-
stone Park, Yosemite, Grand Canon of the
Colorado, and the Glacial Coast of Alaska. The
Mammoth Cave might take sixth rank, but
leaving it out we will not go to Europe, but to
the Himalayas for one and to the Andes for
the other.

The petrified forests are equally as interesting
as the geysers. Southwest of Pleasant Valley
is a small grove of petrified trees. Near Hell-
roaring Creek is a massive promontory, com-
posed of conglomerates, and numerous beds of
sandstones and shales. Throughout these strata
are numerous silicified remains of trees. Many
of the trees are standing upright just as they
grew.

On the northern side of Amethyst Mountain
is another section of strata nearly two thousand
feet high. The ground here is strewn with
trunks and limbs of trees which have been petri-
fied into a clear white agate. In one place
rows of tree trunks stand out on the ledge like
the columns of an old ruin. Farther down the

254 A Pacific Coast Vacation

mountain side are prostrate trunks fifty feet
long. The strata in which these trunks are
found is composed of coarse conglomerates,
greenish sandstone and indurated clay.

These strata contain many vegetable and ani-
mal remains. Branches, roots, snakes, fishes,
toads and fruits. Among these petrified ob-
jects one finds the most beautiful crystalliza-
tions of all shades of red from the delicate rose
to a deep crimson. As to the trees the woody
structure is in many cases well preserved.

Just beyond the eastern boundary of the park
lies the Hoodoo region of the Shoshone Moun-
tains. Here, in the very heart of the old
Rockies the banshee, ghosts and goblins of all
the region round about hold high jinks.

The scenery is wild and rough. The
Goblin Mountain itself is over ten thousand
feet high and a mile long. The storms of ages
have carved the conglomerate breccia and vol-
canic rocks into the most strange, weird and
fantastic shapes.

The vivid imagination of the Indian sees in
these gigantic forms, beasts, birds and reptiles.
Here a couchant tiger and there the huge figure
of a Thunder Bird. Yonder a hungry bear sits
on his haunches waiting for a passing Indian.

Yellowstone Park 255

In the moonlight strange spectral shapes seem
to pass in and out these weird labyrinths. The
rocks are all shades and colors. Mysterious
sounds in the air above add interest to the
most weird scene in the Rockies, a fit setting for
the witch scene in Macbeth.

In yonder dark cavern the huge cauldron
might boil and bubble as the fire lights up the
faces of the sinister three who stir the grew-
some mess, while around yon black bowlder
stealthily steals guilty Macbeth.

Which of the grand scenes do I treasure the
most? I do not know. I cannot tell. Each
in turn holds, fascinates, and enthralls the
mind. Each becomes in the language of
Keats :

" An endless fountain of immortal drink,
Pouring unto us from the heaven's brink/'

THE END

THE

UNIVERSITY

OF

BY THE SAME AUTHOR.

The Travels of a Water Drop

is a volume of sketches, studies from nature. The
travels and adventures of this particular Water Drop
are so interestingly written that it ought to occupy a
prominent place in children's classics. Each sketch in
the book is a gem in its way. For scientific accuracy
and literary beauty this little volume is recommended
to nature lovers. Cloth, small i2mo. Fifty Cents.

14 DAY USE

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SEP 15 1987 3 4

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181693